Steven Multiverse
by Tryingtowriteprostyle
Summary: A mission to find a long lost piece of ancient alien technology leads the crystal gems into making contact with gems from another dimension. Main universe gems meet the mom-swap gems.
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, Pearl! Let us go outside to watch the storm." Came a whiny voice from a boy with a pinkish red shirt.

"Oh sure. Let's all go outside while it's raining rocks from the stars and other space junk." said a woman with pinkish hair.

"Uh, P, technically, we're rocks from the stars." said a short girl with purple skin.

"Yes, i know that, Amethyst. But that doesn't change the fact that it's dangerous to go outside right now. Those meteors are landing pretty close, so we're all safer inside. And, yes, while Steven is half gem and thus stronger than a normal human, I don't want to chance anything. Especially since we're watching Connie for the week while her parents are out of town." Pearl said, gesturing to the indian girl sitting near the window with a tall woman with an afro like hairdo.

"Oh yeah. I almost forgot to thank you for letting me stay here, Pearl." Connie said.

"It's no trouble, my dear disciple. Speaking of that, do you still plan to get up early in the morning so we can get a nice, long training session in?"

"Of course. I've already set my alarm clock for five o'clock and I've got my sword and training gear laid out right next to the bed."

"Always one step ahead. That's what I like to see. And your training is coming along marvelously. You'll soon be the second greatest swordfighter in beach city."

"The first being you, of course."

"Ah yes. But, only because of experience. I am a few thousand years older than you, after all."

Steven listened to Pearl and Connie's conversation but couldn't stop wishing he could go outside to get a better view of the meteor shower.

"Steven! Steven! Steven!" came a shrill voice from outside.

Steven turned to the window to see a green skinned woman making a mad dash up the stairs towards his house. Behind her was a blue woman floating through the air with wings literally made of water.

"Peridot? Lapis?" Steven wondered outloud.

Steven ran to the door and threw it open. This caught the attention of everyone else in the room. Seconds later, the green and blue gem-based lifeforms hurried inside. Peridot tripped as she ran in and ended up doing a faceplant. This earned a snicker from Amethyst.

"Peridot, what's wrong? Why are you two here?" Pearl asked.

"We're here because Peridot found something 'amazing' and immeadiately said that she had to come tell you guys. I just came because I had nothing else to do." Lapis explained.

"I see. Wait, what about the barn?"

"We bubbled it."

"Okay. Good. I'd rather not explain to Andy how the barn got smashed to pieces by meteors under our watch. Now then, what did you find, Peridot?"

"Well, as you all know, I've been tinkering with that red eye you all took after from those rubies in my spare time. I started trying to use it's computers to connect to any and all surviving gem databases here on Earth. And, because I'm so great, not only did I manage that, but I also got myself a 'back door', as the people on the internet like to call it, into some the more deeply buried data. And guess what?"

"What?" Steven asked, his eyes turning into stars as they normally did when he got excited.

"I found out that a very rare and powerful gem artifact is being held at Seastone cavern!"

"Seastone cavern? But, the last time we were there was back during the war. And that was thousands of years ago." Pearl said.

"I wasn't around for that particular one, but I heard the crystal and homeworld gems royally wrecked the joint in a huge battle." Amethyst said.

"Decimated would be a good word to describe it's state after the battle was over." Garnet, the afro sporting gem, said.

"Exactly. Because it was so wrecked, it wasn't any good for the rebellion or homeworld. Thus, no one would think to look there." Peridot said.

"Okay, but we can still get there, right?" Steven asked.

"Yes, Steven, we can. I double checked to make sure. The warp pad on the cavern's end is miraculously intact. It should be able to handle all seven of us." Peridot said, gesturing around the room.

"Lapis too?" Steven said, star-eyed.

"Sure, why not? I'm practically an honorary crystal gem at this point. But, just so we're clear, anything i do for this team, I do for Steven's sake...and maybe Peridot's too." Lapis said.

"Aw, Lazuli." Peridot said, getting misty eyed.

"Stop it, Peridot. You're embarassing me and yourself."

"Right, sorry. Anyway, we can go right now, right? I mean, witht the meteor shower going on, i doubt Pearl will let anyone go outside. So there's nothing going on here."

"Whoa! How'd you know that about Pearl?" Steven asked.

"Well, as the leader of the crystal gems, i naturally know how the minds of my team work." Peridot said proudly with her hands on her hips.

"Right, there's that. And there's also the fact that P is really easy to predict." Amethyst said dryly, earning a chuckle from Steven and Connie.

"Annnyyway, I'm ready to go whenever you all are."

"Hold on! Let me go grab my sword!" Connie said quickly.

Connie ran and grabbed the weapon, then dashed to the warp pad.

"Okay, ready!"

Everyone else joined her and they were soon wisked off. Upon arriving at the seastone cavern, Steven and Connie were blown away by it. The cavern itself was large and colored in various shades of blues and greys. It was filled with numerous pieces of destroyed gem tech scattered all around. In overall appearance, it reminded Steven of the kindergardens. Only with more devices that clearly used to be weapons. Connie noticed some dolphins in the ocean nearby.

"Oh! Those are spotted dolphins. So, we must be far out in the atlantic ocean. I mean, you do see them near Beach City occansionally, but it's rare that they come that close. And since there are so many dolphins, we have to be far from home." Connie observed.

"Good eye, Connie. As a matter of fact, we're on an island in the atlantic and home is about eight thousand miles that way." Peridot said, gesturing behind herself with her back facing north.

"Whoa, my parents would freak out if they knew i was here."

"Yes, they would. So, let's keep this between us and make this quick. What exactly is out here, Peridot?" Pearl asked.

"The last remaining Multrali displacer."

"Multrali? Hmm, haven't heard that name in a while." Garnet said.

"What's a Multrali?" Steven asked.

"Well Steven, ages ago, gemkind came in contact with an amazingly advanced society. After we learned how to communicate with one another, we found out that they were called the Multrali. They looked like humanoid jellyfish in appearance and their technology was incredible." Pearl said.

"You can say that again. According to the history files, their tech was leagues beyond anything that gemkind had made before or since. In fact, some the most advanced tech we have they helped make." Peridot said.

"Like what?" Connie asked.

"Like that." Peridot said, pointing to the warp pad.

"The warp pad? They helped create that?"

"Yup. Our scientists back then were working on teleportation technology but they couldn't quite get it to work right. The Multrali helped out and, within a year, the first set of working warp pads was made."

"Wow. So, where are they now?"

"They had the misfortune of living on a doomed planet. You see, it's core was made up of a volital mixture of molten compounds. They were held in a natural balance that was very easy to throw off. And, well, the Multrali were experimenting with what you humans would call geo-thermal power. This eventually threw off the balance and, well, let's just say the results were catasrophically explosive." Peridot said.

"You mean the planet exploded?" Steven asked.

Peridot simply nodded in responce.

"Wow. That's sad. But it kind of reminds me of what happened to Mighty Man's home planet."

"Yes, well, there are some pieces of their more advanced technology left. This displacer is one of them. From what i could gather, a homeworld gem stationed here on earth had it and hid it here. And, sadly, she ended up getting corrupted during the war. So, there was only the gem's data files left. But, before anyone could search it out, the rebels drove homeworld away. So, it's been sitting here for thousands of years. Waiting for some one with a keen intellect, like yours truly, to figure out where it is. Now, follow me. If I've got this figured out correctly, which I'm sure I have, it's this way."

Peridot began to lead the crew to the artifact's location.

"Hey, Peri!" Steven yelled as he and Connie ran up next to Peridot.

"Yes, Steven?"

"What does this displacer do exactly?"

"Basically, it opens what humans call an Einstein-Rosen bridge."

"No way! Are you serious, Peridot?" Connie asked.

"One hundred percent serious."

"Um, what's an Einstein-Rosen bridge?" Steven asked.

"It's an wormhole, Steven." Lapis said.

"Oh, well, that's all I need to know."

"You know what a wormhole is?" Amethyst asked.

"Yeah. You don't read as many sci-fi books and comics as I do without picking up a few things. Wormholes are used for a bunch of stuff. Faster than light and time travel for example."

"Well, in this case, it's used for interdimensional travel." Peridot said.

"You mean this displacer can open a portal to another world?" Connie asked excitedly.

"Sure can."

"Another world?" Pearl asked.

"You mean, you've never heard of the parallel worlds idea, Pearl?" Connie asked.

"I, I don't read or watch a lot of sci-fi."

"That's okay. I'll explain. You see, the theory says that this world isn't the only version of it in existance. In theory, there many other universes out there, seperated by invisible, dimensional walls. If you can find a way to breach these walls, you can travel to alternate versions of the universe. So, to give an example, in some alternate world, it's possible that instead of Ruby and Sapphire being permanently fused together as Garnet, it could be you and Amethyst permanently fused as Opal. Or, in another world, instead of Steven being the gem/human hybrid, it could be me."

"I see. So the differences could be rather simple, but also drastic."

"Yup. And, i hate to say it, because of what a cliche it is but, it's even possible for there to be a world out there where we're all...evil. Where the name 'crystal gem' is feared and we're all trying to take over the world."

"Well, let's try to not find that world. I'd rather not be pummeled by the masses over a case of mistaken identity."

"I wouldn't worry about that, Pearl. You see, the way the displacer works is that once the wormhole opens on the other end, it basically acts like a glorified vaccum and sucks in all sorts of debris and any nearby life forms, then draws them into this world. The lifeforms have thus been displaced from their home world, and so the machine was dubbed the displacer." Peridot said.

"When was the last time it was used?" Steven asked.

"About fifty years before the war. So about five thousand and fifty years ago." Lapis said.

Everyone looked to the blue, water controlling gem.

"What? I skimmed over Peridot's records. And i learned that the last time some beings from another dimension were brought here, they were people who were like gems in terms of powers, but they were made of living metal. One called herself gold and the other called herself silver. They stayed with the Multrali for about a week and then they were sent home."

"That's correct. And it's also the last time we know of the Multrali using the displacer. Shortly after that, they're planet and species met their untimely demise. After that, displacer changed hands through the gem hierarchy until it ended up in the hands of the homeworld gem who locked it away here. And now, it'll be in our hands. And the world will be safer for it. Who knows what the likes of Yellow Diamond would do with it?"

"Well, I know I'd like to meet people from another world." Steven said.

"You'll get your chance, Steven. Once i figure out how it works, we can connect to all sorts anternate realities. But, from what I've gathered, the device automatically returns the displaced beings to their home dimension after about a week of Earth time. So, any questions you might have for any particular beings will need to be asked in that time frame. Ah! And here we are."

Peridot knelt down by peice of gem tech in the shape of a rhombus.

"Hmm, clever. She hid it in a chest disguised as a piece of destroyed tech. That's why her notes contained a rough drawing of what the chest looked like. Rather simple, but effective. Hmm, the lock still looks rather sturdy. I don't think my metal powers are strong enough to pick it. So, Garnet, if you'd be so kind..."

Garnet nodded and summoned her guantlets. She clasped her now massive fists toether and slammed them down on the lock. The lock shattered and Peridot opened the chest. Inside was a shiny black object, shaped like and egg.

"Is that it?" Steven asked.

"Yes, this is the displacer."

"Where are the buttons?"

"From what I've gathered, they're all over the sides of it. They just happen to look like they're all part of some shell. But, if we were to press the buttons in at key places, we could connect to any specific world we wanted to. The Multrali even had a cipher that listed the specific button combinations to connect to certain worlds. Problem is, that cipher was lost when the Multrali home world detonated. So, it'll take time and some trial and error to really figure this out. But, this isn't the place to do that. Come on, let's take this home."

"Oh oh! Can I carry it?" Steven asked.

"Hmm, well, i don't see the harm in it. Just be careful. This truly is one of a kind."

"Got it!" Steven said and carefully carried the device by it's top and bottom.

The group began to head for the warp pad. They were half way there when they heard a hissing sound. They turned to see a group of snake corrupted gems heading towards them.

"Gem monsters!" Pearl shouted.

"Keep them away from the displacer." Peridot yelled and began trying to use her metal powers on some nearby rubble.

The battle went rather smoothly with so many warriors available to fight it.

"Phew! Well, that was some work out. But, look, we won and not a single scratch to the the displacer." Steven said and started to turn towards the warp pad.

As he turned, his foot caught on one of the yet to be bubbled gem monsters' gem. He tripped and went sprawling out on the ground. As he did so, his hand accidentally slid over some random buttons n the displacer. The machine began to hum and cracks formed all over it. The displacer began to hover in mid air and started to reshape itself into a disk like object. This form short a wide beam of energy at the open air and a wormhole soon opened. Rocks and other debris started flying out of the portal, which Lapis swatted away with her powers. The team could then hear screaming voices comin through the wormhole.

"Uh oh! People incoming!" Steven shouted.

Four figures emerged from the portal and crashed into the sand at the teams feet.

"Ow." The smallest figure said with a familiar voice.

The figured raised it's head to reveal, much to the shock of the gems, that it was another Steven.

"Ug! That wasn't any fun. Hey, you guys okay?" The other Steven asked the other three people.

They each rose up to reveal that they were a peridot, a lapis lazuli and a jasper. But it wasn't their gem types that drew the attention of this world's Steven. It was their outfits. On each of them, in different spots, were a star shaped symbol.

"Who, who are you guys?" the main Steven asked.

"Uh..." The other Steven hesitated, taking in the sight of the other gems.

"Um, we're the crystal gems. And who are you guys?"

"We're the crystal gems. And um, you're in our world now."


	2. Chapter 2

The crew couldn't believe their ears. The other Steven had just said that he and the other three gems with him were the crystal gems. Lapis and Peridot, in particular, couldn't take their eyes off them. It was like looking in mirror. True, gems of the same type did look alike, but this was so much more. Part of each of them felt like the Lapis and Peridot on the other team should be them. And Peridot jealously noticed that the alternate Peridot had limb enhancers.

"So, wait. You're saying that that portal pulled us into another world?" the other Steven asked.

"Yeah, see, this little doo-dad here is called theMultrali displacer." the main Steven explained.

"Ah, a Multrali displacer. That explains alot." The other Peridot said.

"Oh, yeah, I remember that thing now. We met some crystal gems from a world where Ruby, Sapphire, Opal and of course another Steven were the team. That was about a month ago." the other Steven said.

"Oh, man, I envy you, other me. You've met two alternate gem teams now. You guys are my first." main Steven said.

"Well, you never forget your first." the Jasper said.

The other Peridot elbowed the Jasper in the ribs.

"Jasper, could you please not be so obscene in front of a group of gems we just met?"

"What was obscene about that?"

"Oh you know perfectly well what was wrong with what you said."

"No, grammar police, I don't get it. So why don't you either explain it to me or just shut your..."

Suddenly, two hands made of ocean water covered Jasper and the other Peridot's mouths.

"Sorry about that. They love to argue like that. It gets kind of grating after a while." The other Lapis said apologetically.

"I know the feeling." Garnet said, glancing at Pearl and Amethyst.

"Oh, you've got the same problem, I see. I feel for you, sister. Hard to believe they can stand each other long enough to perform fusion, huh?"

"Tell me about it."

Garnet and the other Lapis chuckled briefly. Then Lapis released her team mates mouths.

"Now then, i'd say it's time for some proper introductions. My name is Lapis Lazuli and I am the de facto leader of our version of the crystal gems. I was appointed my position by our founder, Rose Quartz. Now, this here is the muscle of our team, Jasper." Lapis said, gesturing to the right.

"Yo." Jasper said.

"And this is the brains of the outfit, Peridot." Lapis said, gesturing to the left this time.

"Salutations."

Lapis then knelt down and threw her arms around the other gems' version of Steven.

"And i know this cutie doesn't need any introduction, but this is our Steven." Lapis said while planting a kiss on the top of the other Steven's head.

"Ah, Lapis. Stop it. You're embarassing me."

Lapis ruffled her Steven's hair and said "well, isn't that part of being a mother figure?"

"Wait, mother figure?" the main Lapis questioned.

"Well, yes. Before our Rose, well, you know, she entrusted Steven to us. His dad raised him until he was old enough to start training to use his powers and moved in with us at our temple. But we've always been around, just in case. So, we've always been acting as mother figures to him."

"I don't know. I've kind of always thought of myself as more of a big sister to Steve-o." Jasper said.

"Same here."Amethyst admitted.

"Well, that's good enough." Alternate Lapis said.

"Um, I have an idea." Connie said.

"Yes, Connie?" Pearl said.

"Well, I know we've got a lot of talking still to do but, well, it's gonna get confusing with two Lapis' and two Peridots. So, since they're alternates, why don't we call our guests Lapis A, Peridot A, Steven A and Jasper A. That way we don't get mixed up. Oh, and Steven A, here. Wear this for good measure." Connie said taking a black wristband off her left wrist and putting it on the other Steven.

"So, does that work for everybody?"

Everyone nodded and then the main universe gems introduce themselves. Then Peridot A glanced to the warp pad.

"Well, we have much to discuss and about week to do it in if memory serves. But, here isn't really the place to do it in. Might I suggest that we return to your temple?"

"Sounds like a plan to me. Follow me, everybody." Garnet said.

The gang of eleven headed to the warp pad. Connie wondered how much weight the warp pad could take briefly before they were wisked off. As soon they arrived back at the temple, the alternate gems looked around the main Steven's house.

"Hmm, so far, so same." Peridot A said.

" I bet I know something that isn't the same. Follow me!" the main Steven said.

Everyone followed Steven outside after Pearl made sure the meteor shower was over. Steven then pointed up to the figure that loomed overhead.

"Yeah. That's definitely different. Ours is just as big, but the nose is Jasper's gem. Peridot's is on the forehead and mine is on it's back." Lapis A said.

"On it's back?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, ours sticks out from the side of the cliff just enough to give it a back. But, it's kind of disappointing really. You have to walk around the temple to see my gem and once you're back there, that's all there is back there. Kind of lack luster, but what can you do?" Lapis A said with a shrug.

"I see. Um, by the way, do you have a Pearl in your world?"

"One like you? Yes. She used to be a servant to Pink Diamon before, well, you know." Lapis A said, being careful not to bring up the topic of Pink Diamond's shattering.

"Yes, i was in the same boat. Rose rescued me from that life."

"Our Pearl wasn't as lucky. She ended up being a second pearl to Yellow Diamond. And since all the servant duties were handled by Yellow Pearl, our Pearl ended up being used as a gopher, as the humans would say. She ended up proving how intelligent she was, so she was sent here to monitor the cluster."

"That's what happened with our Peridot. So i can imagine how that ended up. You had to fight her several times and then Steven ended up turning her around to the point that she turned on Yellow Diamond and joined you?"

"Right on the money. Oh Pearl, the look on Yellow Diamond's face when our Pearl told her off is something that will be eternally funny."

"Did she call her a clod like our Peridot did?"

"No but our Peridot does use that word quite a lot. No, she actually called her a, and I quote, 'big, yellow, buffoon'."

"Oh my. Yellow Diamond's look was probably a dozen times worse in your world then. And that's something, considering how she looked like her face was going to cave inward here."

"Oh I can imagine that." Lapis A said with a chuckle.

"Steven!" A voice yelled from down the beach.

"That sounds like Ronaldo." the main Steven said.

The teenager ran up to Steven's house.

"Whoa. More magic alien ladies. Some of them twins to the ones you already had too. And a clone of you? I have questions. Many, many questions. But, not now. There's this huge bird monster attacking main street with a whole flock of smaller creatures. I knew you guys dealt with that kind of thing. So, yeah, deal with it. Please?"

"This sounds like a whole brood of corrupted gems. We'd better hurry." Pearl said.

"We'll come too. We're crystal gems too." Main Peridot said.

"But Peridot, your metal powers are strong enough to handle a fight this big. And there's not a lot water around for me to use." Main Lapis said.

"Then we'll be crowd control."

"Well, alright. Let's get going." Pearl said.

"We'll come too. All the help, right?" Lapis A asked.

"If you want to help, you can. Now let's go." Garnet said.

The group ran down to main street. Sure enough, there were large number of bird like corrupted gems attack the town.

"Oh my stars. They must've been drawn out of their hiding places by the meteor shower. Well, let's get to work." Pearl said, drawing out her spear.

Lapis A stepped out in front of the crowd.

"Actually, i think we can handle this. We're used to crowds of corruptions. So please, let us handle this." she said as the rest of her team stepped forward.

"If you insist." Garnet said, pulling her team back.

The alternate crystal gems lined up and sized the the task ahead of them. Lapis then looked down to her Steven.

"Steven, would like to sing our song while we do this?"

"Are you serious?" Steven A asked.

"Sure. I'd like our fellow crystals to hear it. Plus, I thought it might be interesting to fight with a theme song this time."

"Cool! Peridot, can you play the music?"

"Of course." Peridot A said and called up her screens.

Soon, an upbeat, rock'n'roll tune started to play from Peridot A's limb enhancers.

"If you're evil and you're on the rise, you can count on the four of us taking you down. Cause we're good and evil never beats us. We'll win the fight and then go out for pizzas. We, are the crystal gems. We'll always save the day. And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way. That's why the people of this world believe in: Lapis, Peridot, Jasper and Steven!" Steven A sang as the foursome ran into battle.

Lapis A flew around and tackled many of the small corruptions out the sky so that they would be in prime striking range for Jasper.

"If you could only know, what we really are. When we arrived on Earth, from out beyond your star. We were amazed to find, your beauty and your worth. And we will protect your kind. And we will protect your Earth. And we will protect your Earth, and we protect you!" Lapis A sang as she continued her aerial attack.

Lapis then landed and turned her wings into giant fists and started poofing any small corruptions she missed in the air.

"I will fight until all gems are free, to live in peace and harmony." Lapis A sang as she continued to throw giant punches.

"I will fight in the name of Rose Quartz. I'll defend everything that she believed in!" Peridot A sang as she used her limb enhancers to shoot at the corruptions with one hand and slash at them with the converted into an enrgy sword.

"I will fight for the world I was made in. The Earth is the only home I've ever known." Jasper A sang as she piledrove a small corruption into the side of the large one.

"I will fight to be everything that everybody needs me to be when I'm grown." Steven A sang and ricocheted his shield through a group of small corruptions.

"The odds are against us, it won't be easy but, we're not gonna do it alone." The four sang as they surronded the large gem.

"We are the crystal gems!" the four sang as the simultaneously struck the large corruption.

"We'll always save the day!" Lapis A sang as she used her water hands to throw the stunned corruption into the air.

"And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way!" Peridot A sang as she blasted the corruption with two full charge shots from her limb enhancers.

"That's why the people of this world, believe in!" Jasper A shouted as she leaped up and used her crash helmet to to headbutt the large corruption back down to the ground.

"Lapis." Lapis A shouted and struck the gem monster once more.

"Peridot!" Peridot A shouted as she shot the creature once more.

"Jasper!" Jasper A shouted and gut-punched the corruption.

"And Steven!" Steven A shouted as he slammed his shield down on the monster's head and finally poofed it.

"Wow! That was amazing!" the main Steven screamed while star-eyed.

"Thank you, thank you." Jasper A said with a bow.

"You're world is in fantastic hands with you around." Pearl said as she went around and bubbled the corrupted gems.

"Aw, thank you. But, I'm sure you're even better. Now, let's get these poor girls bubbled and back to the temple." Lapis A said.

"Lazuli?" the main Peridot asked the main Lapis.

"Yes?"

"We need a lot of practice to live up to them."

"Agreed."


	3. Chapter 3

Pearl and Amethyst quickly bubbled up the corrupted gems and sent them on to the temple.

"Again, I must say, that was some truly impressive fighting, Lapis A." Pearl said.

"Well, thank you, Pearl. We strive to be the best we can be."

"I agree with Pearl. It's impressive how strong you all are. And none of you are fusions either." Garnet admitted.

Just then, an idea struck across Amethyst's mind. She walked over to Lapis A and lifed up her arms and kicked her feet apart.

"Um, what are you doing, Amethyst?" Lapis A questioned.

"Sorry for being weird, but, what Garnet said got me thinking. What if you are fusions, but only just fusions of the same type of gem?" Amthyst said, checking around Lapis A's form for the sign of a second gem.

"I can assure you, Amethyst. Each of us is all by our lonesome as far as our individual forms go. We just practice, a lot, to make sure that we can play off each other's strengths and make up for any weaknesses."

"Yeah. I guess you do, cause I can't find any other gems on you. Huh? Hey, Lapis! Uh, our Lapis!" Amethyst yelled.

"Yeah?"

"Her gem's in the same spot as yours. Can't believe I didn't notice till now. So, i guess you really are alternates. Which would mean that your a swap for our Lapis, Peridot A is a swap for our Peridot and your Jasper is a swap for ours."

"Thank you for pointing out the obvious, Amethyst." Pearl said, face-palming.

"Hey, there was always the possibility that they weren't." Amethyst argued.

"Hey, speaking of your Jasper, where's she at?" Jasper A asked.

"She's, uh, bubbled for the time being." Main Steven said hesitantly.

"Bubbled? Why? Did she get poofed in a battle?"

"Er, you could say that."

"Well, it's getting late." Lapis A interjected, getting a feeling for what the main Steven was getting at about his world's Jasper.

"Yes, it is. We should grab some dinner for the Stevens and Connie, and then head home. So, you three, what would you like?" Pearl asked as she produced some money from her gem.

"Uh, how's pizza from Fish Stew Pizza sound to you guys?" Steven A asked the main Steven and Connie.

"Sounds good to me." Main Steven said while Connie nodded.

"Alright then. Let's get a move on."

On the way to the pizza shop, the group made a pit stop at the candy store. The reason being that Peridot A turned out to really like gummy candies and had noticed an ad for new flavors available. She walked and chewed on a jerky flavor gummy as the group continued on.

"So, how's that gummy treating you, Peri A?" Amethyst asked.

"Hmm, it's definitely different. But, having had only the few odd pieces of beef jerky that Rose convinced me to try in my life time, I can't really say if this is a good attempt at the flavor or not."

"Hmm, i would offer to taste it too to give a second opinion, but i frankly don't like eating. Unless it's pie we're talking about. Then it's a whole different story." Pearl said.

"I'm the same way, only with these gummies instead of pie." Peridot A said.

"Um, Lapis A, Jasper A? Is there any food you like?" Connie asked.

"I'm pretty much good with whatever." Jasper said with a shrug.

"I'm not much for food, but I do like tea." Lapis A said.

"Oh, i know a shop that sells a huge variety of tea. It just opened recently and it's on the way to the pizza shop. Would you like to go there?" Connie asked.

"Oh, sure. That way I can learn where it is in our world and go there when we get back."

Lapis A and Connie tooled around in the tea shop with some money Pearl gave them and came back out with a few boxes of tea.

"So, what do you want to try first?" Connie asked.

"Hmm, this blood orange flavored one sounds interesting. I've had citrus and even specifically orange flavored tea before, but not blood orange. So, i think I'll give this one a shot."

"Let me know if it's any good."

"Will do."

"Alright. Now it's pizza time." Garnet said.

The group headed to the restaraunt after this. All the while, the main Steven and Connie were examining the alternate gems. Lapis A was wearing a white top with a large blue star taking up most of the chest and stomach. The top was open in the back so that Lapis A's gem was exposed. Along with this, she was wearing a frilly light blue skirt that stopped just above the knee and blue leggings under that. Unlike regular Lapis, Lapis A wore white, strappy sandals. Meanwhile, Peridot A was more plainly dressed. She wore a one piece suit that was mostly dark green until it hit her legs, where it turned into a light green that ran down Peridot A's legs until it dead-ended into the metallic green limb enhancers on her legs. There were yellow stars on Peridot A's knees. The most extravagant things about this Peridot were that her hair was roughly star shaped and the short, light green shawl cape that covered her upper torso and shoulders. Finally, Jasper A wore a black body suit with an orangish red, button up vest and the same color boots. Her hair was tied into a loose ponytail that partially covered the black star on the back of her vest. The alternate Steven, meanwhile, looked identical to the main Steven. Hence, Connie had given him her arm band to differentiate them.

Seeing them lined up was interesting to see, but made sense in the mind of the main Steven. Main Steven had figured that if his Lapis would develop a more upbeat personality and got poofed, she would end up coming back with a more colorful outfit like Lapis A's. He'd also wondered what Peridot's crystal gem form would look like. She was surprisingly resilient to damage, so it would take either a lot of damage or Garnet squeezing her with her full strength to poof her again. And neither of those scenarios seemed to be likely in the near future. However, after looking at Peridot A's outfit, he could imagine his Peridot regenerating with something similar. Especially the cape. His Peridot seemed like the type that would definitely give hersel a cape of some sort. Then there was Jasper. She was the oddity. Steven still wished he could uncorrupt his Jasper and make friends with her, however unlikely that seemed. He wanted a chance to expalin that, no matter what Jasper had thought about Rose Quartz, that he was different. He'd thought he'd proved that much to Bismuth in their last exchange.

"Wait a sec." Main Steven said aloud as a thought dawned on him.

"What is it, Steven?" Peridot asked.

"Hey, um, alternate crystal gems?"

"Yes, Steven?" Peridot A replied.

"Um, do you guys have a Bismuth in your world?"

The alternate foursome exchanged uneasy looks before Lapis A spoke up for the group.

"Yes, we do. And she's currently bubbled and stored in our burning room."

"Did she try to offer you the breaking point like she did me?" Steven A questioned with a saddened face.

"Yeah. And when I turned her down, she attacked me. Calling me Rose and all kinds of other craziness."

"Same here. Did you end up poofing her with mom's sword?"

"Yup. I've never been more sad and terrified at the same time."

"Yeah." Steven A agreed.

"Um, Stevens?" Connie asked.

"Yeah?" the boys said simultaneously.

"Um, well, my Steven told me about Bismuth, but no one ever explained what the breaking point was exactly. So, what is it?"

"It's a weapon, Connie. You would wear it on your arm and it had a huge spike on one end and a equally big piston on the other. You would line the spike up with an enemy's gem, like this." Main Steven said, using Amethyst as a model.

He lined his fist up with her gem.

"Then, you'd fire it somehow. I never bothered to figure out how before I tossed it into the lava that ran through Bismuth's forge in order to destroy it."

"But why did you destroy it?"

"Because of what it did. It was designed to shatter gems. When it fired, the piston would slam down and shoot the spike into the enemy's gem with enough force to shatter it." Steven said while lightly punching Amethyst's gem for emphasis.

"So, if you actually had it right now and used it on Amethyst for real, then..."

"Yeah. She'd be gone forever. Bismuth thought that it was the best way to stop homeworld. Shatter enough of them, and they'll leave us alone forever. But, I didn't want it, and according to Bismuth, neither did mom. That's why they ended up fighting and mom had to poof her. She stored her inside Lion's mane where no one but her, and later me, could get to her. Mom never told the others. My guess is that she didn't want anyone to think Bismuth was crazy. She wanted to protect Bismuth's good name, so she never told anyone what she was really like in her last moments. But, unlike mom, I did tell them." Steven said gesturing to Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.

"So did I." Steven A said as Peridot A put a concerned hand on his shoulder.

"I see. I can kind of see where she was coming from, and casualties in war are inevitable, but shattering gems? I know enough about gem anatomy to know that in some ways, being shattered as a gem is like being ripped apart as a human. It's like, the worst way you could go. So, while I can see how she could come to such a conclusion, I agree with you, Stevens. Just like how no human deserves to be torn apart, no gem deserves to be shattered."

"And yet, from what I've been told, mom shattered Pink Diamond as part of the rebellion. And I still haven't exactly wrapped my head around that exactly." Main Steven said.

"Same here. Mom was supposed to be so good. So i couldn't understand how she could do something like that. Lapis said they all had to do things they weren't proud of during the war, but still. Worst part is, I can't figure out how mom did it. I mean, Diamonds are supposed to be super strong. And, I know mom was strong too but, I don't know if she was strong to shatter a diamond on her own. My worst fear is that mom did use the breaking point one time. And that was on Pink Diamond." Steven A said.

"Yeah, I've wondered the same thing and had the same thought. It's scary image that's hard to shake out of your head." Main Steven said.

"Tell me about it." Steven A agreed.

"Um, well, this sour mood is no good at all. Come on, everybody. Let's go get that pizza already." Lapis A said with a comforting smile.

The group quickly headed to Fish Stew Pizza. Kiki and her family hardly batted an eye at the extra gems and second Steven. They attributed it to the magical weirdness that just seemed to follow Steven and the gems. Pearl bought a medium pepperoni pizza and the gang headed back to the temple.

"Alright, you three. You can eat yourselves silly and watch tv, but I want you all in bed before ten. We're going to show our guests around our temple and it'll take a while. We're even going to take our Peridot and Lapis on the tour. So, we'll see you tomorrow." Garnet said.

"Bright and early, right, Connie?" Pearl asked.

"Crack of dawn, ma'am." Connie said with a salute.

"Alright then. Let's start in the burning room." Garnet said, approaching the door into the temple proper.

"Later dudes and dudette!" Amethyst cried as the gems started to file into the temple.

The Stevens and Connie nodded to each other and hurried inside the temple before the door could close all the way. They then hid themselves as best they could and spied on the gems. They watched as Garnet summoned her gauntlets and turned to face the other crystal gems.

"Alright, enough with playing nice. It's time to see if these gems are who the say they are."

"Garnet, are you serious? After everything that happened today?" Pearl asked.

"We can't be too careful, Pearl. I want to believe them. Half of me does, the sapphire half. But Ruby, she still thinks it's possible that this could be an elaborate ploy by homeworld."

"But, I'm the one who found the data. And i'm not with homeworld anymore. I'm a crystal gem too. Don't you trust me, Garnet?" Main Peridot questioned, some what saddened by this sudden turned.

"Of course I trust you, Peridot. But, that doesn't mean that the data couldn't have been tampered with or even planted by homeworld. All in an atempt to pit us against powerful enemies. Perhaps that wasn't the only displacer left. Mabye homeworld found a world with evil crystal gems like Connie mentioned and recruited them to attack us. Homeworld is crafty enough to try something like this. Maybe not yellow diamond herself, but perhaps one of the others. White and Blue Diamond always were a bit of an enigma. So, I hope our 'guests' understand my caution."

"We helped save your town, and this is the stunt you pull? You're no better than the Garnet of our world. And she was a fusion crazy psycho!" Jasper A said.

"I wouldn't go that far, Jasper. Because I can understand your need for caution, Garnet. Truth be told, I've been bracing myself for the moment I'd have to turn my hydrokinesis on you this entire time. After all, we are the ones who were plucked from our home universe."

"Same here. I've been friendly up until now, but only because I wanted to keep tension low. But, if it's a fight you want, I will not hesitate to use my full force to defend myself and my friends." Peridot A said.

"So, how do resolve this conflict without hurting each other?" Pearl asked.

"Oh, I think I know two people who will gladly break this up. Right, Stevens?" Lapis A called.

The Stevens and Connie stepped out from their hiding places with surprised looks on their faces.

"You knew we were there?" Main Steven questioned.

"Of course. Remember, we've been through this before with Opal's team. And, admittedly, I pulled the same stunt on them that Garnet just did on us. And, it was at that moment that our Steven and the Opal team's Steven ran out to break it up. I had a feeling history would repeat itself."

"Okay. So, now, Garnet, please, put your gauntlets away. I think we can trust them. I mean, if they were part of some homeworld plot, they would've attacked us by now. You said that Sapphire believes them. Well, have Sapphire show Ruby some future vision to show her that they can be trusted." Main Steven said.

Garnet paused for a moment, clearly doing what Steven asked. She then released her gauntlets and gasped.

"What? What is it? Garnet, what did you see?" Main Steven asked.

"I saw that we could trust them. Before this week is over, they'll be fighting along side us."

"Fighting what?" Steven A asked.

"Zicron."

The other gems all gasped. The Stevens and Connie were left confused.

"Who's Zicron?" Connie asked.

"A powerful gem. She was once just a humble scientist, until she invented a machine that would let her syphon off energy from other gems and add it to her own. She increased her strength this way and, well, you what they say about absolute power corrupting absolutely. She went mad with power and basically became what humans would call an 'energy vampire'. She 'fed' on so many gems that her power was quickly growing to be a threat to even the Diamonds. So, in a rare display of all four Diamonds fighting together, they dealt with Zicron directly. They poofed her, but discovered that she could now regenerate so quickly that they wouldn't have time to do anything with her gem. They couldn't shatter her, or bubble her, or put her gem into gem powered device. Finally, they decided to fight fire with fire and used her own machine against her. But, the influx of energy destroyed the machine, which surprisingly left the diamonds in a daze. Meanwhile, Zicron was left weakened but still quite strong. She proved to be strong enough to pull of her quick regeneration ability. But, it was slowed down enough this time that the diamonds' soldiers were able to poof and bubble her once and for all. Then, they sealed that bubble inside a special container and stored that container deep inside the crust of the new colony they were trying to develop: Earth." Peridot A explained.

"Of course they would put that maniac here! Garnet, please, we need to know where Zicron's pod or whatever is so we can get it as soon as we get back to our world." Lapis A said.

"I couldn't get a clear picture of where it is. All I could see was the eleven of us lined up to face her."

"Did you see who won?" Steven A asked.

"The vision ended before that was shown and I'm having trouble accessing it again. I didn't even get to see how she was released in the first place."

"But, why?" Main Steven asked.

"It might be because of us. Garnet's future vision is trying to throw in all possible out comes with us included and it's making it hard for her to find the most likely outcome." Peridot A said.

"Well, then, Garnet, just rest. We're going to need all our strength for the coming days." Lapis A said.

"We should try to tap into as many databases here on Earth as we can to try find Zicron before she gets released by, well, whatever releases her." Main Peridot suggested.

"Good call, other me. Let's get a start that right now."

"Right, back to the barn. That's where we're keeping the roaming eye I've been using to tap the databases."

"I'll come with you. You need one of us to open the door out of here anyway." Pearl said.

The three gems ran off as the Stevens and Connie turned to Lapis A and Garnet.

"What should we do?" Steven A asked.

"Eat and go to bed early. Unlike us, you'll only be hampered if you try to pull an all nighter. Try to get as much sleep as you can." Lapis A said.

"But, Lapis, there's no way we can sleep now!" Steven A protested.

"Well, you have to try. We're going to need you. All three of you. Now go."

"Here, dudes, I'll let you out. Yo, our Lapis, Jasper A, you come too. We gotta think of something to do to get ready." Amethyst said.

"Right behind you, lil' sis." Jasper A said.

"Whatever." Main Lapis said with a shrug.

"She's not very energetic is she?" Lapis A asked Garnet, referring to her counterpart as they left.

"Not normally, no. But, after what she's been through, it's hard to blame her. Perhaps you should talk to her in the morning. Maybe it'll help."

"Yeah, maybe. 'Sigh' I already feel exhausted."

"Join the club."


	4. Chapter 4

Connie's alarm clock went off at five o'clock. The girl herself wasn't sure if Pearl was still going to go through with their training session. She wouldn't blame her teacher for skipping the lesson, what with this Zircon business swimming through everyone's minds. But, when she looked out the nearby window, she saw Pearl standing outside and waving to her. Connie quickly turned into her training gear and ran outside with Rose's sword in hand. To Connie's surprise, she found Peridot A and the main Peridot with Pearl.

"Um, Miss Pearl?" Connie questioned, looking at the Peridots.

"Oh! Right! I made this decision last night. As it turns out, Peridot A is the swordswoman of her team and she's training her world's version of you."

"That's correct. And once I discovered Pearl's ability last night, I couldn't help myself and challanged her to a duel. After that, she asked me to assist in your training this morning."

"I wish you could've seen the duel, Connie. I was so envious of good-lookin' here. I mean, brains, good looks, metal power mastery, limb enhancers and swordsmanship? She's the total package! She's all I want to be!" Main Peridot ranted.

"Wait, metal power mastery? You have metal powers too?"

"Affirmative. And, other me, you can and, I believe, will get everything that I have one day. Our main difference is that I was made far earlier than you. So, I've had several thousand more years of practice to learn the ins and outs of my powers and the way of the sword. Just give it time."

"So, when do I get another set of limb enhancers?"

"Actually, our world's version of Bismuth made these for me back duing the war."

"That psycho blacksmith?"

"To be fair, she hadn't slipped that far back then. This was towards the beginning of war. You see, when I was made, home world was running low on resources to use for making Peridots specifically. As a result, they used the minimum to create me. And so, when I emerged, I was..."

"Small, short, pint-sized?" Main Peridot asked.

" 'sigh' Yes to all of the above. And they wouldn't bother to give me limb enhancers that I saw similar Peridots have. They said they had to hold on to as many resources as they could. So, I didn't get these until I had already joined the rebellion and then met Bismuth. And she made these special. Not only are they far tougher than normal limb enhancers, but if one should become detached from me somehow, it automatically seeks me out and reattaches itself. And finally, there's their best trick. You see, I don't technically have a weapon since I'm a 'psychokinetic' type gem, meaning I control something with my mind. That ability is my 'weapon'. And I knew that fusions could combine their weapons to create something more powerful and I wanted that for when I would fuse. And so, through some process that I still haven't figured out, Bismuth made these enhancers able to fuse with another gem's weapon when we fuse."

"You...regularly do fusion?" Main Peridot questioned.

"Natuarlly. It is a common and effective tatic for use in battle, which was what we were constantly in back then. Later on, Rose shared her thoughts on what fusion should be about and we all agreed."

"So, who have you fused with?" Connie asked.

"My first experience with cross-gem fusion was with Rose herself."

"Did you form a version of Rainbow Quarts like Rose and I did?" Pearl asked.

"No, actually, our fusion was called Siderite. Siderite, the stone, is commonly found in yellow to orange shades. When Rose and I would form Siderite the fusion, the narutal red found in Rose's pink coloration and the yellow found in mine would mix to form an orange that would wash out all other colors. Her weapon was a throwing type of weapon that humans call a bolo. The fingers of my limb enhancers would form the chain connecting the two orbs, which were formed from Rose's shield. And of course Siderite could wield Rose's sword."

"I wish I could see what she looked like." Connie said.

"Allow me to show you then."

Peridot A called up her screens and summoned up a hologram to show what Siderite looked like. She was very tall, and on the slender side. Her hair was long and straight and was a slightly darker shade of orange than her skin. Peridot and Rose's clothes combined to form a red dress with it's hem reaching down to Sederite's knees. It had a shawl style cape built in and a star shaped cut out on the stomach. Her most notable feature, however, were her four eyes hidden behind a visor similar to Peridot's.

"Wow, she's really pretty and looks really strong too." Connie said.

"Thank you. And you know, I have a feeling that if I would fuse with Steven, Siderite would be reborn."

"Same here for Rainbow Quartz. However, part of me wonders if it would be okay to fuse with Steven."

"Because you've been like a mother to him all his life? And would the fusion be stable while all of your memories of Rose are likely flooding back? Yes, those are the same questions I ponder. If I ever figure them out, I'll let you know."

"Please do."

"Is there any one else who you've fused with?" Connie asked.

"Well, naturally. When Jasper and I can put our differences aside, we become a fairly powerful fusion called Tiger's Eye. She's a type of Chrysoberyl and is a dark yellow in color thanks to the yellow in Jasper's orange combining with the yellow in my green and washing everything else out. Here's what she looks like."

The image of Siderite faded and was replaced by an equally tall, but some what more muscular woman with long, flowing yellow hair, four eyes behind a visor and a very dark yellow skin with stripes of lighter yellow. She wore a black body suit with a dark yellow jacket with pale black fringe sticking out at the shoulders. Peridot's limb enhancers had shrunken to form gauntlets and boots for Tiger's eye She was carrying a weapon that looked like a meteor hammer. Once again, Peridot's 'fingers' formed the chain and Jasper's crash helmet formed the 'hammer' part.

"She looks tough. And, four eyes seems to be a running thing for your fusions." Connie pointed out.

"Yes, most of the fusions I'm a part of come out that way. The only exception is my fusion with Lapis."

"You fuse with your Lazuli?" Main Peridot asked.

"Yes, regularly. Our fusion's name is Turquoise and she's one of our most stable fusions, due to how well Lapis and I get along."

"Can you show me, I mean, show us Turquoise?" Main Peridot asked.

"Of course."

The tiger's eye hologram disappeared and was replaced with one for Turquoise. Turquoise was also tall, a tad bit shorter than Opal in height. Her hair, which was a deep greenish blue, was styled similarly to Peridot's but with longer bangs that framed her face. Her skin was a light blue-green color. Her top had fringed shoulder pads, a medium green band that wrapped all the way around the top part of the top and darker bluish green bottom part. Her mid drift was bared and then she wore a belt like piece that was the same dark bluish green as the bottom of her top. This piece connected to a light blue skirt that opened in the front, revealing her dark bluish green knee high boots. She also wore dark bluish green gloves on each of her four arms and her hands looked robotic, owing to Peridot's limb enhancers no doubt. She was surrounded by what looked like ninja stars made of ice, but clearly had glowing green centers.

"She's gorgeous. Is that really what she looks like?" Main Peridot asked.

"Yes. To the last detail." Peridot A stated.

"Are those ninja stars her weapons?" Connie asked.

"The proper term is shuriken and yes, they are her weapons."

"Your fusions like to play the range game with their weapons." Connie stated.

"Well, that probably comes from me. With my limb enhancers' energy shot functions, I am a bit of a markswoman along side of my swordsmanship."

"Well, I'm glad that I got to see Turquoise. Cause I'll likely never be able to form her. I'm still getting used to the idea of fusion. I'm not totally against, I just need time to adjust to the idea of sharing a body with some one else. To become one with some one else. And Lazuli, well..."

"I take it that your world's Lapis has not had a good experience with fusion." Peridot A said to Pearl.

"No, she hasn't. She formed a spiteful fusion with our world's Jasper. They turned into an out right monster called Malachite." Pearl said, using her gem to show a hologram of what Malachite looked like.

"Hmm, I see. We have a Malachite. She's more stable than this one though." Peridot A said, showing a hologram of her Malachite.

The alternate Malachite had four arms but only two legs. Her outfit looked very similar to this world's Malachite but added a skirt similar to Lapis A's and a vest similar to Jasper A's. She was carrying a battle axe using ice from Lapis as the handle and edged versions of Jasper's helmet set back to back to form the blade.

"She has a tendency to go overboard, especially if she's been fused for too long. And she becomes hot-headed and dangerous at that time. But this Malachite, she reminds me of our Sugilite." Peridot A said, displaying a hologram of said fusion.

The alternate Sugilite's upper body roughly looked the same as the main one, but from the waist down, her body looked closer to a spider's in appearance with multiple arms forming the the 'legs'.

"Whoa. And i thought fighting our version of Sugilite was difficult." Pearl said.

"We didn't want it to happen. We found our Amethyst in a suspended state of animation. She was being held in an experimental pod. Near as I could tell, she had come out of the Earth's crust small, like I did. But, that's not what homeworld wanted for a quartz warrior. And they didn't have the resources or time to try again. So they shoved her into this pod, in an attempt to forcibly change her into what they wanted. They buried it deep underground, so that we never found it until thousands of years later. You see, there was a small Earth quake in the alpha kindergarden that caused the emergency release on Amethyst's pod to activate. She was freed and made her way to the surface. There upon, one of my robonoids that i scattered all over to keep an eye on gem related areas spotted her. It sent a report to me and we were soon on our way. Steven was the one who found her. He earned her trust but she ran off when he introduced us. She had been told who the crystal gems were and that she was being processed in that pod to make her strong enough to fight us. So, rather understandably, she blamed us for the thousands of years she lost. Time passed and Steven met up with her again. She was attempting to repair a gem ship so she could leave Earth. Steven ended up tricking me into helping him help her to fix it."

"You grounded him when you found out, I assume." Pearl said.

"You better believe I did. No video games for a month. The look on his face looked like he was about to die from just hearing the punishment. But truth be told, despite the fact that he tricked me, I was kinda proud of him for selflessly trying to help her. But, of course, that back fired in our faces."

"Let me guess. Homeworld captured your Amethyst and made her act as an informant to find out where we were. And they dragged her right back to Earth."

"Precisely. I take it that, since Sugilite and Malachite seem to be swapped between our worlds, that Lapis and Amethyst are swapped as well."

"And you and I, i think. Because I'm assuming this is when your Pearl first really showed up to stay."

"Yes, and she brought our version of Garnet with her. I'm assuming, flowing the trend here, that Garnet and Jasper are swapped as well in our respective stories."

"Seems that way. But, Garnet is kind of an oddity. I mean, she was the first cross gem fusion most homeworlders had ever seen. They treated her like freak and tried to hunt down and have her destroyed. That's when she ran into Rose and I."

"Our Garnet, according to files I hacked later, acted differently. Rather than run away from her attackers, she faced them head on and showed her strength. I mean, when you show the kind of physical strength and mental stamina to poof about half of a diamond's court security, people take notice. This was when Blue Diamond happened upon a thought. She had heard that the crystal gems did use cross gem fusion as a war tatic and she thought, perhaps, that they should fight fire with fire. Garnet was put through rigorous training and made into what could only be described as a living engine of war. I don't know if our Garnet saw any action during the war, but hacked files did reveal that she was instrumental in helping home world conquer other planets for colinization. And in her mind, it was all inan effort to show Homeworld the value of cross-gem fusions. A noble goal, truth be told, but there's a fine line between noble ambition and desperate obsession. And Garnet stradled it. She was constantly trying to prove her worth, so that she would be allowed to continue to be together. And that's when she heard about Amethyst's story. You can probably figure out how that went."

"Exactly how it went with Jasper here. She brought Amehyst back by force as an informant and captive, while she had your pearl for technical support, even though she was really there to monitor the cluster?"

"Right on the button, Pearl. So, you can imagine how things went. Our first enounter was a disaster. Garnet popped out a destablizer and used it to poof Lapis before we could react. Since we were surrounded by water, I guess she thought that Lapis would be the biggest threat. Jasper, Steven and I tried to fight her off, but she was too strong. We all got captured and they took my limb enhancers. Steven managed to break us out. First Lapis, who fought Garnet head on and won through sheer determination to protect her friends and home. She gave him directions on where me and Jasper most likely were. And that's when Steven discoveered that I'm actually small. He had fun with that for a few days before I threatened to take away his video games again. Anyway, after gettng my enahncers back and Lapis defeating Garnet, we ended up crashing the ship back on Earth. When the dust cleared, Pearl had escaped and both Amethyst and Garnet crawled out the wreckage. Garnet gave Amethyst a spiel about how we would never actually care about her and that we might even attack her after all this. It ended with her offering to fuse with Amethyst to give her the power to crush us. Amethyst, confused, hurt and more than a little angry, agreed to the fusion. And it was formed before we could do anything to stop it. Lapis readied a huge fist made of ocean water to strike Sugilite with, but her Amethyst side took over and forced her into the crust of the Earth. Through Amthyst's struggle to maintain control, Sugilite ended up digging her her through the Earth until she came out near mask island. When we found out, we went there to stop her once and for all while Steven and Pearl worked to stop the cluster. We formed our most powerful fusion, Ammolite, to try to defeat her." Peridot A explained, producing a hologram of Ammolite.

Ammolite was a tri-colored gem. Blue in her hair, green in her torso clothing and reddish orange on her legs. Her hair was long a straight, with bangs that framed her face. Jasper's gem was her nose and was a layered blue, green and orange, as was Peridot's on the forhead. Lapis's was on her back, and was also bearing the tri-colored look. Ammolite had six arms in the same positions as Alexanderite's and colored to match whichever of the three colors they were closest to. They each bared a copy of Peridot's limb enhancers, acting as gauntlets. Her feet were covered with boot style heels that were open at the toes and clearly made from Peridot's leg enahncers. Her chest was covered with an dark olive green vest with a furry ridge around the collar and shoulders and had an open, star shaped hole in the back to expose Lapis's gem. Her legs were covered with an orange stet of leggings underneath an orange skirt that was v shaped and drapped between Ammolite's legs, similar to Opal's clothes. Her middrift was exposed as was skin on her biceps, thighs and face. This skin was a cool gray color and bore shadow blue stripes all over it, thanks to Jasper's influence. Where her belly button would be if she was human were three stars lined up inside each other from biggest to smallest. The biggest was oragne, the medium one was green and the smallest was blue. Ammolite carried Turqouise, Malachite and Tiger's eye's weapons.

"It was a hard fight, but we won in the end. Then the cluster started acting up and formed a crack in the ground. Garnet fell through the crack. When she resurfaced, she tried to convince Amethyst to become Sugilite with her again. Amethyst summoned her whip and threw Garnet far out into the ocean with it."

"Wow. Your Amethyst sounds a lot stronger than ours. Er, don't tell her I said that, Connie. You either Peridot." Pearl said.

"We won't, Pearl." Connie said as main Peridot nodded in agreement.

"Yes, well, she was in that 'improvement pod' for such a long didn't increase her size but I would say it gave her formidable strength. So, it was at least half-way sucessful. Anyway, later on, Steven, Jasper and our Connie were hanging out at home while Lapis and I searched for Garnet's whereabouts. We knew she was gathering corupted gems to use as an army against us. What we didn't know is that while we were away, Garnet was making a b-line right for our temple. Jasper, Steven and Connie tried to fight her but Jasper ended up getting poofed. She came back with her current look. And before you ask, she didn't change much. She made the color of her vest a few shades lighter and changed her hair style from it's original wild to the ponytail she has now. Anyway, by the time Jasper had reformed, Steven and Connie had already fused into Stevonnie and, with the help of Lion, they defeated Garnet and sent her packing. Garnet resurfaced in the beta kindergarden. This time, Steven, Jasper and Pearl, who had recently joined the crystal gems, were the ones who there to fight her. Jasper, upset over her loss to Garnet, to tried to fight her on her own. And she got her butt handed to her from what I heard. Anyway, Steven ended up convincing the old rock head that she didn't have to do this alone and that's when the two of them came to such a great level of trust and respect for one another that they fused and formed a gem known as Smoky Quartz." Peridot A said, producing a hologram of said fusion.

This version of Smoky had long, brownish hair and three arms, similar to the main Smoky Quartz. She had a brownish grey version of Jasper's Gem for her nose. Steven's gem was similarly colored and placed at her navel. Light tan stripes were placed all over this Smoky's body and she wore Steven's pants as shorts with Jasper's boots, which had turned a tan shade similar to her stripes. Steven's shirt stretched across her chest and had Jasper's vest over it, in the same tan shade as before. On her righ arm a large disk launcher weapon was mounted. Steven's shield, colored in tans, browns and greys, was the disk and Jasper's helmet had become a tannish grey launcher.

"In this form, they defeated Garnet."

"Um, what happened after that?" main Perdiot question her doppelganger.

"That's a story i believe Jasper or our Steven should tell. And, out of respect, I think it should only be done with Garnet present."

"Well, let's round them up after this training session. Alright, Connie, Peridot A, are you ready?"

"Yes, ma'am." "Affrimative."

"Then let's begin."


	5. Chapter 5

Unbeknownst to the training gems, two other groups had heard their conversation. One had been the Stevens, who were woken up slightly by Connie's alarm clock and then further by the conversation outside. The other had been Garnet and the Lapis'. They were up in the temple's laundry area. Though muffled slightly due to the distance, Garnet could still pick up enough to understand that something terrible had happened to her counterpart.

"What happened to me?" Garnet asked Lapis A.

"The other you? Well, like Peridot said, she lost to our Smoky Quartz."

"I mean after that. The same thing happened with Jasper in our world. Amethyst and our Steven formed our version Smoky Quartz and defeated her. And we know what happened to her after that. If that happened to me then... Please, tell me what happened."

"Garnet, with all due respect, this is story between you, Jasper, Amethyst and the Stevens. I think we should all be gathered before we tell it."

"Well, I think Amethyst took Jasper A into her room. Said something about catching something called the Slinker? Is that a corrupted gem?" Main Lapis questioned.

"Yes, it is. Come on, let's go. These are dry anyway." Garnet said quickly while picking up a basket of laundry.

The three gems warped into Steven's house. The Stevens waved as they arrived. Garnet quickly and quietly went to put the laundry away. Lapis A went to prepare breakfast for the Stevens and made sure to keep an extra plate ready for Connie.

"So, you know how to cook, huh?" Main Lapis questioned her counterpart.

"Well, yes. When you've got a growing boy who doesn't know how to do anything more complicated than preparing canned soup, you tend to learn how to make a few things. I'm no five-star chef, but I can make some mean omlettes. I can teach you if you want."

"No thanks. I don't eat."

"Neither do I, but that doesn't mean I don't take the time to try to learn a few recipes."

"But, when would I ever use this?"

"Well, I don't wish ill on any of these crystal gems but, with homeworld always out to cause trouble, you never know what might happen. There may come a time when something happens to one or more of the crystals and Steven might need you and your Peridot. I've had a similar conversation with our Pearl and Amethyst, so I'll give it to you like I did them. We crystal gems are tough, but we aren't invincible. We can be beaten and Steven needs people to be with him. I hate to throw this onto your shoulders but Steven knows you, trusts you and cares about you alot. I can't think of anyone better suited to taking one of our places as his care giver."

"You said it just like that to them, huh?"

"Yes, and it rings true for you too. Lapis, I get the feeling that some awful tings have happened to you in the past. Judging by what I've seen of your personality so far, you have to be a swap for our Amethyst, as well as me obviously. So, you certainly have the right to be a little cold and distant but...well, here. Humor me with a little 'exercise'."

"Exercise?"

"I'm not gonna make you do push ups or anything, so relax. I want you to close your eyes."

"Well, okay." main Lapis said and did as her doppleganger asked.

"Now, I want you to focus on your Steven. Think of all the good times and the hard times, and everything in between, that you've had with him."

"Okay. I'm doing that."

"Now, you should feel something inside you while your thinking about all of that. I want you to describe that feeling. Describe how being with your Steven makes you feel."

"Well, I feel...less gloomy. Like, being with Steven makes me feel like life's not so bad. Cause there's this little goofball who is ready, willing and able to go out of his way to help you with whatever your problem is. Large or small, he doesn't care. He'll do whatever he has to, just to see you smile. Also, he doesn't judge and he doesn't hold grudges. And after some of the things I've done, I'd be hard pressed to blame anybody for judging me or holding a grudge. But, Steven, he just wants to see me happy. He's so pure, so innocent. And just being around him makes me feel...warm inside."

"Do you want to know what that warm feeling is called?" Lapis A asked.

"Um, yeah?"

"It's called love, Lapis. It's not very strong in your case. Not yet. But given time and more exsposure to Steven and others, it'll grow much stronger. Until it becomes a force inside you that gives you strength you didn't even know you had. Strength that lets you defeat enemies three gems together couldn't beat. And Lapis?"

"Yes?"

"That happy, warm, strength giving feeling is what I feel all the time. I love my Steven. My Peridot and Jasper too. They are the closest thing to a family I have. After being in charge of this team for so many years, I've finally come to understand how Rose felt. Why she wept when we lost a soldier, no matter how low on the chain they were. It's because we crystal gems are a family and it's always sad when you lose a member of your family. But despite the pain you feel when you lose a member, take it from me, the one thing everybody needs to make life easier is a family. The gems of this world could be yours. I know your Steven already is."

"If you knew what happened to me, you wouldn't say that the crystals are my family."

"Well, why don't you tell me what happened?"

Lapis expalined her sad tale to her doppelganger.

"Hmm, well, they shouldn't have used you like they did but, I don't think they knew that Rose's tears could heal broken gems at the time. It wasn't until a few short years before Rose met Greg that we found out. Jasper had suffered nasty fall and cracked her gem in the process. Rose cried over one of her few remaining sisters being hurt so badly. A tear fell onto Jasper's gem and healed it. It was then that our Rose went about preparing her fountain, which was later damaged by an Earthquake until we came along and fixed it. As for you, your gem was cracked before you were put in the mirror. They didn't know whether you were just a normal gem or a corruption. So, i can understand the caution. I know it's not an excuse, but you can see their side of things."

"Yeah, I guess. But that still doesn't make it right."

"I never said it did. But, that's the thing about Earth and about family. Sometimes, we hurt each other and we don't even realize we're doing it. And by the time we do, the damage is done. All we can do is try to forgive and move on. You can never forget, but to move on and grow as a person, you have to forgive. And not just the crystal gems of this world, but yourself too. I overheard what Pearl said about you and Malachite."

"Yeah, not my best moment."

"But, from what I've seen, the gems are willing to move on. They're waiting on you to catch up."

"I, uh, I'll think about some of the things you've said."

"That's all I ask. Now, let's make these omlettes."

A short while later, the training gems entered the house. Lapis A had served up the omlettes she'd made for the Stevens already.

"Oh, Connie! Come in and wash your hands. I'll have breakfast ready for you in a just a moment." Lapis A said.

"Um, thanks, Lapis A. But, you don't have to do that for me."

"I don't have to, but I want to. Now come on, girl. Hop to it."

"Yes, ma'am."

As Connie and the Stevens ate, Garnet sat on the couch, staring off into space. She had been told what had happened after the Japser of their world had lost to their Smoky Quartz. And she wondered what had happened to her counterpart in the other world. Just as the kids finished eating, Jasper A and Amethyst came out of Amethyst's room.

" 'sigh' Finally! Thanks for the help, Jasper A. That Slinker's been a right royal pain in the butt for too long. Now, she's finally, safely bubbled and I can go back into my room without having to worry about being attacked. Ah. Feels good to know that."

""No prob, Amethyst. It was a good fight. I think the Slinker's tougher here. Peri built some kind of electro-trap in our world and that took care of her pretty quickly. That was boring, this was fun."

"Hey, you two. Um, there's something we'd like to discuss." Peridot A called.

"Is it Zircon? Did you figure out where she is?" Amethyst asked.

"No, not yet. But, well, while you two were off battling the slinker, we were discussing some of the differences between our worlds. And we came to the story of how our Smoky Quartz beat our version of Garnet. I stopped the story at the part where Smoky beat Garnet one on one."

"And we over heard the story from the laundry area. Naturally, Garnet really wants to know what happened afterward." Lapis A stated.

"It's, uh, not pretty." Jasper A said.

"I wasn't expecting it to be. Just, please, tell me." Garnet said.

"Well, actually, I wanna know what happened to your Jasper too. So, trade off?"

"I'll do you one better. I'll show you her. Come on everyone."

The large group followed Garnet into the burning room. Garnet had Amethyst pull down the bubble Jasper gem.

"This is her. She refused to lose to a fusion again, so she attempted to beat Smoky by fusing with a corrupted gem. Smoky still beat her and sepearted them. As the corrupted gem ran off, our Jasper began to break down." Amethyst explained.

"You mean?" Jasper A asked.

"Yeah, she became corrupted. I think her mind was already starting to go from the moment Garnet beat her on the ship. It got worse every time she lost. And this last defeat at the hands of a fusion was the last straw. Fusing with a corrupted gem probably didn't help things. Steven tried to use his healing spit on her before it was too late but, she wouldn't let him. She turned into a big corruption and Peridot, acting outta what i guess was instinct, used her metal powers to launch a big metal spike from one of the corrupted gems cages right through Jasper. This caused her to finally poof and then I bubbled her. And now, she's here. At least until we can figure how to fix her."

"Oh, man." Jasper said, putting a hand to the side of her head as she had what could best be described as a 'there but by the grace of God go I' moment.

Lapis A and Peridot A put their hands on Jasper's shoulders in a comforting way.

"I'm sorry we don't have a better story to tell you." Amethyst said.

"No, it's okay. I was afraid of this. When I started to see how things were swapped in between our worlds, I got scared that something like this happened to me. Hearing that it did is just, kind of a lot to take in. But, I'll be okay. Just, promise me. When you figure out how to fix, do everything you can to make her a crystal gem. I'm sure she'll find it's a better calling for life."

"Don't worry, we will." Pearl assured.

"Thanks. Okay. Fair's fair so, Garnet, you ready?"

The fusion nodded and Jasper A walked over to her Steven.

"As you already know, Steven and I can become our version of Smoky Quartz. We first became her to fight our Garnet in the beta kindergarden with our Pearl as back up. Smoky pummeled garnet pretty good. Enough to cause to seperate into Ruby and Sapphire. And, the strain of the battle was too much for Sapphire. She poofed immeadiatelyy after seperating from Ruby. Ruby swore she'd take down Smoky for doing that Sapphire and she ran over and fused with this big, but ugly corrupted gem. It kinnda remind me of what we called the water bear corruption, only it was a different color, They turned into this huge, red green, splotchy beast that managed to knock Smoky for loop. When Smoky got her bearings, she summoned up two more disk launchers to go on her two left arms. Then she launched multiple disks frm all three launchers and the disks formed what I like to call a gem blender. They bounced off the rock walls and kept slicing up the Ruby fusion. It end up being too much for the fusion to handle and it seperated. Then, things kinda played out the same way they did with your Jasper here. Ruby began to corrupt, Steven tried to heal her, she tried to punch him in the face while calling him Rose Quartz. She yelled that she would never accept from the one who shattered Pink Diamond. After that, she turned into a corrupted gem and pounced on us. Our Pearl, who had the power to control sand, ended up accidentally causing a sand spike to shoot out of the kindergarden's floor and right through the corrupted Ruby. She poofed and then I bubble her and Sapphire together. I figured it would be what they would've wanted."

Garnet stood in silence. Though partially obscurred by her visor, the skin under the eye that came from Ruby noticibly twitched and a tear fell from the eye that came from Sapphire.

"I'm sorry." Jasper said, scratching the back of her head.

Garnet shook her head.

""No, it's okay. I asked for it. Like it was for you, it's alot to take in. But, I'll...we'll deal with it. I just have to remind myself that that wasn't me. Not this me."

"Yeah, same here."

"So, um, now what she we do?" Main Steven asked.

"Um, how's about we go back to the living room and we can have the alternate gems tell us about how they all met Rose Quartz?" Connie suggested.

"Yes, I'd like to hear that. Come on, let's go." Garnet said.

As the group made their way out, Garnet stopped Jasper A at the door.

"Jasper?"

"Yeah?"

"That promise you asked of us for our version of you?"

"What about it?"

"I want you to do the same for your version of me once you fix her."

"You can count on it, sister."


	6. Chapter 6

As the gems returned to the living room, the main Peridot turned to the group.

"So, it's story time now. But, how are we gonna do this?" Peridot asked.

"Well, how about this? We'll go in order of who met mom first." Main Steven said.

"Then I'll be first." Peridot A said.

"I'll be second." Lapis A said.

"And I guess I'm going last." Jasper A said.

"Well, okay, Peridot A. You've got the floor." Main Steven said as the group circled around.

"Well, my story begins on a planet called Crya five. I was made there and was put to work in a kindergarden soon after. But, as I said earlier, i was made when they were running out of resources for making us. And, frankly, they were running out of resources for pretty much everything, gem and otherwise. But, we Peridots still toiled away until one day homeworld decided that Crya five had given up all it had to give. They were going to pull out and move on to another planet. I was left there on Crya. I was told that it had been decided that, given the planet's current state, gem production could handled by one Peridot. I was told I was picked because I showed the most promise. Truth be told though, I was left because I was the smallest Peridot. The closest to being considered defective. But, like a total clod, I kept toiling away all by myself. But nothing I tried to make would come out right. The closest I ever got was an agate that came out with one arm, one leg, a misshaped head, no mouth and only one eye. In other words, only one of everything she'd actually need and nothing that could save my dying sanity. Poor soul didn't even make it a day until her half-formed gem gave up. It was shortly after that she showed up. Rose Quartz. I had overheard some of the higher-ups talking about her. She was living a legend. And she was right there, as the only other person on the planet besides me. Naturally, I ran up to talk to her. I was desperate for anyone to talkt being left behind. Rose, she gave me something simple, but it meant so much. She gave me just a simple hug. She said it was a gesture she'd picked up on Earth. Earth was something else I had heard about. It was meant to be a new colony. I mentioned that I would like to see it. Rose told me to follow her to her ship then and she would take me there. I protested, saying I couldn't abandon my post. What Rose said to that I'll never forget. She said 'But Peridot, your post has abandoned you. And so have your supervisors. But, unlike them, I'll never abandon you. You can stay with me forever if you want. We'll be the best of friends.' I didn't know what to make of that. So, I did the only thing I could think of and took her hand and let her guide me to her ship. We took off and warped to Earth. Then Rose gave me the grand tour of the planet. Or as much of it as she knew anyway. And as I walked with her, I came to appreciate Earth the way she did. But, then, she dropped a bombshell on me. She told me kindergardens were going to be set up all over. One was even already functioning. She took me to see it and I saw what a kindergarden did to the Earth around it. That kindergarden was the gamma kindergarden. Predecessor to both the prime and beta gardens. And though it was only a trial run, to see what would happen, it was doing it's job perfectly. And, since we all know what kindergardens do to the enviroment around them, you can imagine what I saw. Rose cried as she saw poor animals that left weak because the plants they fed on were dying off because of the garden. 'This garden is killing this place.' Rose said simply. 'I can't stand to see this. Unlike all the other worlds we've set up gardens on, this one is teeming with life. And, little by little, we're going to destroy it, Peridot. Don't you think that's wrong?' Since I had come to think of Earth fondly like Rose did, I had to agree. That's when Rose told me that she was planning to rebel. She would gather like minded gems and together we save this world. At that moment, I bowed to Rose Quartz and said 'Rose, I'm just a small Peridot. I'm not capable of much. But, if you'll have me, I will stay by your side as faithfully as a pearl stays by a diamond.' No offense, Pearl."

"None taken."

"After that, time passed quickly. We gathered many allies and soon the war was on. I learned about my powers, learned about fusion and started developing my marksmanship and swordsmanship. And of course, thanks to our Bismuth, before she went crazy, I had gotten my limb enhancers. The rest of my life has been roughly about the same, as far as I can tell, as the gems of this world."

"How did you react to mom...you know?" Main Steven asked.

"Yes, I know what you mean. I...I didn't know what to think. I thought Rose had broken her promise to never abandon me over a simple human. But, as I got to spend more time with my Steven, I realized that Rose had moved on to a higher calling. She had given up her physical form to give birth to our Steven, and in the process, she created a bridge between us gems and humans. She left to give rise to a being that could walk in both 'worlds'. And I realized that to honor all those centuries of friendship, the least I could do was watch over her son as if he was my own." Peridot A said as she walked over and lovingly ruffled her Steven's hair.

"Okay, so, my turn now, right?" Lapis A asked.

"Yup. Go ahead." Main Steven said.

"I wish you had a big mirror around here. I have the power to project my memories onto reflective surfaces. Oh well. Word of mouth will do. Now, my story actually begins here on Earth. I was brought here as part of a troop of lapis Lazulis. Our goal was to drain every last drop of water from off of the Earth. Water couldn't really be used to make gems, so the only good they saw in it was as a back up arsenal for us. Well, I was doing my job one day. I was draining a river not too far from a human town. I saw this deer. It looked really sick. And I said out loud 'what's wrong with it?' A human girl nearby heard me and said 'It's sick because it hasn't had enough water to drink, because you and your sisters keep taking it away.' The girl then showed me a deer that had already died from dehydration. She explained to me how everything on Earth needed water to live. It was then that I realized that we lapis' were slowly killing off the life on this planet by just doing our job. So, I decided I was done with it. I put all the water I had taken back and then met up with the other lapis'. I tried to convince them to help me fix everything, but they said I was crazy. Blue or Pink Diamond would find out and I'd surely be shattered. So, I was left with no choice. I poofed all of my fellows and bubbled them. I then went about putting all the water back. Naturally, I got caught and was put into a prison for some time by Blue Diamond. I think she was planning to isolate me for so long that I would snap and do anything to be released. I held strong though and, while I can't tell you exactly how long I was in there, I can tell you how I got out. It was Rose who saved me. She and Peridot, along with a bunch of other rebels, raided the prison. I heard Peridot say that they had broken out all of the captive gems."

"Oh yes. I remember that day. The look on those quartz guards' faces when they saw the prisoners barrelling right at them was hilarious. We made sure the prisoners didn't shatter them but, considering the conditions they were kept in, we didn't mind if they poofed a few of them." Peridot A said with a mischevious grin.

"Right, well, I was desperate not to be left behind. So, I created the biggest water fist that I could and slammed it against the side of cell. That got me noticed. Peridot and Rose came in to investigate the noise. Peri was understanably cautious. I was in isolation after all. But, Rose, she just asked what my story was. And I told her. And she said 'well, you were rebel before there was a rebellion. Peridot, we have to let her out.' And sure enough, they did. At that moment, I fell at Rose's feet and clung to them for dear life. I just couldn't get enough of being able to touch and talk with another person. Let me tell you, talking to youself is good for helping you remember things. Like if you say 'don't forget to buy milk on the way home' over and over to yourself, you're more likely to remember. But, trapped in a prison cell, by yourself, it's likely to drive you crazy. I know I had to look like I had completely lost my mind, but Rose, she understood. And she said 'Don't worry, Lapis. Your time alone is over. You will come with us and we will be your friends forever.' 'Sigh' Things weren't always easy after that, but it was nice to know that I had friends. And then, through it all, there was Rose. She always there to listen to my problems. And she trusted me enough to vent to me as well. When she realized that she was going to have to give up her physical form in order for Steven to survive, she called us up. She explained everything as best she could and entrusted to us and our Greg."

"By the way, where is your dad, Steven?" Connie asked her Steven.

"He's out of town at a car show."

"Oh, okay. Sorry, Lapis A. Please continue."

"No harm done. I was wondering that myself. Anyway, after Rose entrusted us with Steven, she asked me to step foreward. She said 'Lapis, when I'm gone, I want you to take over as leader of the crystal gems.' Naturally, i was surprised. We all were. But, before any of us could protest, Rose explained her choice. She said 'Peridot is focused on logic. She uses her head to solve every problem she comes across. Which is great, but, there are some problems that can only be solved by trusting what your 'heart' tells you is right. There, Peridot falls short. She's not very good at expressing her emotions. That's why she can go on little tangents when she's really mad or really excited. Jasper, on other hand, is the exact opposite. She's got no problems thinking with her heart and letting her emotions guide her. Problem is, she tends not to stop and think things through. You, though, are the balance between them. You're not perfect, but then again, nothing is. That's why it has to be you. I need you to watch over them and guide them the best you know how.' Well, I couldn't turn Rose down so, naturally, I agreed. The rest is, as they say, history."

"Okay. It's big sis Jaz's turn. Listen up pebbles. So, my story also starts here on Earth. As I'm sure you know, I was made here. Biggest success story the beta garden ever had. But, I fell prey to a bias."

"A bias?" Connie asked.

"Yeah. See, a lot of gems didn't like Earth for some reason. Even if you were supposedly perfect like they said I was, if you were from Earth, everybody treated you like you were back water trash. One of the supervisors of the beta garden hated Earth so much that after I emerged and was declared perfect, she suggested I prove that I was as strong as everyone said I was. So, I was sent to the coliseum. There I had to fight a lot of other 'rejects'. I knew I was worlds stronger than these small fry, so it just didn't seem fair. These were gems who just wanted to live their lives. They didn't get to chose where they were made. So, I would beat the others until they couldn't get up. Didn't even poof'em if I could help it. Naturally, this didn't sit well with the biased gems. So, they kept me there for what felt like ages. Eventually, the rebellion busted in and set us all free. That's when I met Rose, Peri and Lapis. I'd heard bits and pieces of how strong Rose was supposed to be. So, i just felt this itch to take her on. And so, I attacked her. And she beat me to the ground. First time I had ever lost a fight. She questioned me as to why I attacked her. When I told her that fighting to prove how strong I was was the only life I knew, she asked 'What would you do if i could show you a better a life?' All I could say back was 'Whatever you want me to do.' Rose showed me the Earth, the real Earth. Not this sludge ball I'd heard it was, but it's true, beautiful, sometimes complicated self. I was proud to call this place my home world. And I swore to Rose that I would risk any danger to protect it. And that's how I became a crystal gem."

"Was it like that for you guys too?" Main Steven questioned his gems.

"For the most part. I was a servant that Rose liberated and treated as an equal. That alone was enough to make me want to follow her." Pearl said.

"As I said before, Rose was the first who thought that what I was a grand thing. She was the first one to say that I was the enbodiment of the love and trust of Ruby and Sapphire. It was her acceptance that drew me in." Garnet said.

"Same here. When they found me at the prime kindergarden, I felt and literally was as lost as I'd ever been. Rose offered me a home, a family and all the love I could ever ask for. And you know, though she's not around anymore to say so, I still feel that way through my family here. Especially with you, Ste-ball." Amethyst said while giving her Steven a noogie.

"Here here." Pearl said.

"Mm-hmm." Garnet said with a nod and smile.

"Same goes for us, Stevie." Lapis A said to her Steven.

The alternate crystal gems nodded in agreement with their leader. Steven A laughed in embaressment when his gems circled him to hug him. That's when he saw that his host gems had already beat his gems to the punch with their Steven. Garnet looked up to main Peridot, Lapis and Connie.

"What are you three sitting over there for? You're part of this team too, so that means you're part of this family too. So get over here."

The three joined their fellows and main Steven felt crushed in the middle of all this hugging.

"You know, watching them makes me miss our Pearl and Amethyst." Steven A said.

"Don't worry, Steven. We'll be home soon enough. I'll make sure you see them first thing when we get back." Lapis A said.

Steven A then looked at the Multrali displacer that Pearl had placed on the nearby shelf for the time being.

"Hey, everybody?"

All the others turned to look at the alternate Steven.

"What is it, Steven?" Peridot A asked.

"Well, I was wondering, do you think there's an alternate world out there where the diamonds are the good guys?"

All of the gems laughed hard.

"Oh, Steven. You say the silliest things sometimes. The diamonds? Good guys? What a riot!" Peridot A said while slapping her knee.

"Hey, don't laugh. I mean, the multiverse is a big place. Millions of possibilites. So, who knows?"

"Well, he does have a point. Still though, it is rather hard to imagine." Main Peridot said.

"Well, come on, gems. Let's get back to work on finding Zircon." Garnet said.

"You know, Steven A, I think it's possible for there to be good diamonds out there." Connie said.

"I'd like to see it." Main Steven said.

"Me too." Steven A said.

Meanwhile, in another dimension.

"Steven? Where are you? Don't you hide from me. You won't like the consequences." A twelve foot tall, all yellow woman said.

Suddenly, another Steven, baring a pink diamond on his shirt, lept from the rafters and onto the woman's head.

"Steven bomb! Ha ha! I got you, Yellow!" The alternate Steven shouted as he put his hands over the massive gem's eyes.

"Oh no! Tiny hands! My one weakness! Please, spare me you wrath, son of Pink Diamond!" Yellow kidded.

"Oh, Yellow, this is a good side of you." Came a calm voice.

Steven and Yellow turned to see a blue gem, just as tall as Yellow herself.

"What are you talking about, Blue?" Yellow asked.

"I mean, it's nice to see you joking around an all smiles."

"Yes, well, I guess Steven has the effect on me. Brings out my softer side."

"It's a nice change of pace. Speaking of pace, have you kept up with where White is?"

"White Diamond? Oh, she's out swimming in the ocean again. Said something about bagging herself a ten tonner, whatever that means." Steven said.

"Ten tons? Oh, no! She's out messing with those migrating whales again. I told her to stop. She's going wreck their fragile eco-system. I know she doesn't mean any harm but... 'sigh' I'll be back." Blue said and left the house.

"I swear, it's nothing short of a miracle that those two haven't killed each other since Pink left." Yellow said.

"You mean, since she gave up being here so that I could be here. I'm sorry, Yellow. I took her away from you guys."

Yellow Diamond plucked Steven from off the top of her head.

"Steven, I don't ever want to hear something like that out of you again. Understand?" Yellow said sternly.

"But, it's so obvious that you all miss her."

"Yes, we do. But, there's not a day that goes by that we don't look at that portrait of her over your front door and silently thank her for giving us you. You help fill the void she left behind. And you add so much more to our lives. Don't ever think that we would trade you for her. Why, if we even remotely considered that, I'm sure Pink would haunt us."

"Well, if you say so. Hey, um, Yellow?"

"Hmm?"

"What was mom like? I mean, when I ask Blue, she just goes on and on about how kind and sweet she was. And when I ask White, she tells me about what a great practical joker she was. But, that can't be all there was. She was a diamond after all."

"That's right, she was. The best of all of us. You see, Steven, before your mother came along, we...weren't the best people. You wouldn't have liked our old selves. We were sort of like, oh what's that show you love so much? The one with the stuck up queen who makes everybody worship the ground she walks on?"

"Oh, knights of Wonderia."

"Right, that's it. We were like that dark queen. Not nearly as outlandish, but you get the general idea. Then Pink was made. She was the youngest out of all of us but, after she had been in power for about ten years, we heard grumblings from gems in our courts who wanted to jump ship to hers. Naturally, we questioned her about it. How could she draw the favor of so many gems so quickly? Her answer shamed us. She said the difference between us was that she showed her court kindness and humility while we loomed over our people and inspired nothing but fear. She told us that she showed her people that, though she was a diamond, she was also a gem just like them. A heroine for the common folk. That's what she was. And that's why her people adored her. To put it simply, there's an old human saying that says that you attract more flies with honey than with vinegar. I think that's a rather apt description of these events. Anyway, Pink encouraged us to change our ways. To earn the people's respect through honest adoration and not simply fear. It took time, but we all adjusted to it and we all changed so much. We became like we are now. And things seemed to go swimmingly, until the idea of the Earth colony came up. Pink was charge of it and had gone to Earth to check things out. She came back with stories of all the life on this planet and said we just couldn't colonize it. Our colonization methods would destroy this beautiful place. So, we nixxed the idea. Alot of people were not happy about that. Earth had a lot of resources that would benefit gem kind, and those people wanted them no matter the cost. Five Zircon rose to lead this band. They even sent a mighty Rose Quartz to attempt to get rid of your mother. She defeated her, defeated her and then bubbled away. Your mother detested the idea of shattering. But, the zircons made that Rose Quartz a martyr. They said Pink had shattered her. They made it a huge debacle and it soon divided the gems. We rose to protect from the zircon forces. The zircons created a device that could sap our strength. You see, Steven, we used to be much, much bigger than we are now. That device drained our power and deminished us in size to our current forms. Eventually, we destroyed that machine. But, instead of the power returning to us, it unleashed a wave that rushed over the planet and corrupted many gems, both friend and foe. The homeworld zircon forces remaining fled and we were left with no one but our Pearls to help pick up the pieces. We were dubbed the crystal gems, for on our star maps, this region of space is known as the crystal system. We've bore that monikor with pride, as we have been Earth's protectors for thousands of years. And now, we tran you, the boy who is both human and gem. So that you can be the bridge that seperate us from humans. So that, if homeworld and 'Zirconium Council' were to invade again, the people would know who to turn to. Who to believe in."

"Yeah, the diamonds!" Steven said triumphantly.

"And Steven." Yellow added with a proud smile.


	7. Chapter 7

While the Peridots and Pearl went over as much data as they could, Amethyst and Jasper went on a burger run. Pearl protested that it was too early in the day for burgers, but the quartz warriors both said it was never to early for burgers. Pearl relented and the purple and orange gems were on their way. Meanwhile, the Stevens and Connie were trying to see if both rose quartz gems together could reliably open the door to Rose's room. When that failed, they opted to go diving the gem way by using the two Stevens' bubbles. By focusing together, the Stevens created a combined bubble with the two spheres overlapping. The 'overlap' acted like a tunnel connecting the bubbles so that the three kids could jump in between them at their leiger. They rolled down into the ocean and Garnet followed to keep an eye on them. The Lapis', meanwhile, had journeyed to the top of the temple and rested on top it's head. Lapis A wanted to show main Lapis something from this view point.

"So, tell me, Lapis. What do you see from up here?" Lapis A asked her counterpart.

"Um, the ocean?"

"Exactly. This view alone is enough to remind me why I became a crystal gem in the first place. To help atone for past mistakes. In my world, as I said, I was supposed to help drain all the water on Earth. Including that out there. And think about it, Lapis. Between the two of us, we could easily suck up all that water. We could take all the water from everywhere and then hand it out to only people who please us by giving us gifts."

"Somewhere in the multiverse, there's probably an evil version of us who's done exactly that."

"Yes, and that's a rather sad thought. I'll make a deal with you. If I ever meet that Lapis, I'll be sure to kick her butt and you do the same. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Okay. It's a plan then. Now, as i was saying, we wield tremendous power. With so much of this planet covered in water and our ability to control it, it's tempting to use it. Let me tell you a story. A story about the time I took control of an entire ocean."

"Ive done that. I used it to make a water colum that could lift me up into space so that i could try to fly home."

"Betcha mine's a little more interesting."

"Okay. Tell me what you did."

"Well, it was back during the war. A homeworld battlion had swept through some of our barracks and poofed a lot of our soldiers. They bubbled them and took them to their ships. Intending to hand them over to homeworld and the diamonds no doubt. Well, I just couldn't let that happen. So, in what I can only describe as a fit of blind rage, I took control of the entire atlantic ocean and formed it into a water whip that I used to grab the ships and crush them in mid air. I was in the middle of yelling all sorts of nasty things at the homeworlders who had been on the ships at the time when Rose stopped me. She showed me all the poor aquatic creatures who were suffering because of my desire to lash out. I gently put the water back and promised to never go that far again. Not even if it was the easiest thing to do to solve a problem. Truth be told, I could've used that very ocean in our world to destroy the red eye that threatened to crash into Beach City. But, I held true to my promise and instead we ended up using Rose's laser cannon. So, you see, I'm always keeping myself in check. Cause there's no ifs, ands or buts about it. When it comes to our team, I'm the strongest. I can't punch holes through mountains with my fists like Jasper, nor can I build a machine that could flatten those same mountains like Peri could. But, considering there's water everywhere here, I could easily just make those mountains disappear way faster than anyone else. I could make whole towns go the way of Atlantis. But, I keep myself in check, so that i give my team a chance to shine. There will always be a time to show how strong I really am, but it's okay to hold back in the meanwhile. Same goes for you. You have the same level of power. No doubt, you would be the strongest crystal gem if you were to fully join. And, personally,i think that those who have great power like we do have a responsibility to use it for the right reason. So, you gotta ask yourself, Lapis, are you using your power for the right reason?"

"You are really selling this crystal gem thing hard huh? Two sales pitches in one day?"

"What can I say? You're like my twin. I want you to experience what I have. You don't have to become the leader. Just join and enjoy the fact that you have friends. A family. Sisters and a brother, son in my case, who would gladly move the heavens to help you. That's what I've got. And I want you to have the same thing."

"You're gonna keep bugging me with this, aren't you?"

"Till I leave at week's end. Yup, that's pretty much the plan."

"Ha ha. Well, at least your honest. Um, say, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"Um, well, what's, um, what's fusing with Peridot like?"

"Considering it, are we?"

"Well, she has changed alot. And she's done everything in her power to make up for what happened with Jasper and my unwanted return to Earth. She's just, I don't know, kind of a geeky little thing who just wants to be recognized. And, honestly, I think I would trust her with a fusion. But, after Jasper and what we both did to each other as Malachite, I just don't know if I should. I guess, I don't trust myself."

"Then trust me. After all, I am you. When I fuse with Peri, I feel her determination. You see, Jasper and I were gifted with our powers at creation. Peridot had her metal powers at that point too, she just didn't know she had them. Shoot, I don't think she was even supposed to have them. It was just a flook. But, once she learned she had them, she trained rigorously to learn how to use them to their fullest potential. Last time i checked, my Peri could lift about eight tons of solid metal with her powers."

"Mine can barely handle eight pounds."

"She's still learning. Give her time. She'll amaze you, I promise. Now, as I was saying, Peridot trained night and day to learn her powers inside and out. And then she did the same thing with her swordsmanship and marksmanship. Everything that makes Peri as strong as she is, she earned. 'Through her blood sweat, and tears' as the human saying goes. I have seen that gem literally work herself to exhaustion. I mean, barely able to stand up exhaustion. And then, after resting for a bit, she goes right back at it. That kind of determination is admirable. And I feel it when we fuse. If I wasn't inspired to accomplish whatever we're fusing to accomplish beforehand, I definitely am after I feel that sheer grit that Peridot has."

"Sherr grit huh? You know, I think your Peridot said that you beat your Garnet through sheer grit."

"Yeah, it was determination. We were almost out into space after all. Beyond my range of control for water from any source. So, i had to use what my gem can generate. Wasn't the easiest fight in the world, but I dug in my heels and pushed through. And, I'm sure Peridot could've done it too. She thinks she's not as strong as me but, really, our difference in power is only because there's usally more water around than there is metal. Really, if there was more metal, I think we'd be even in power. I honestly think we'd be tied for strongest crystal gem, if only there was more metal. And, our two powers combine when we become Turquoise. She can control water and metal, and even has a rusting touch as we found out the hard way. Um, let's just say we had to get a new bike for Steven after we discovered that little trick. But, yeah, fusing with Peri makes me feel determined. I become aware of my faults and want to do the best I can to overcome them. That's the effect her personality has on mine when we fuse. That's why Turquoise is usually pretty focused."

"Turquoise sounds like one heck of a fusion."

"I think she is. It's a symbol of our trust with one another. A trust that has only been broken once. You see, Peridot had to fight Malachite after Jasper and I stayed fused for too long while trying to destroy a communication hub. Peridot knew the only way to stop Maly's rampage was to poof her back into me and Jasper. It was a tough fight, but by using her big brain and getting some encouragement from Steven, she ended up beating Malachite by tricking her into bonking herself on the head with her own battle axe. Enormous headache, for days. Just want to make that clear. After this though, Peri kinda started feeling down. Yeah, she won the fight, but not because she out muscled Malachite. True, Peri's brains are her defining trait but, she wanted to feel strong like she knew Jasper did. So, when we became Turquoise to try to destroy the hub again, Peridot found the power she was looking for. So, she'd sneak off in the night and repair the hub. At the time, we were fighting our Pearl, so it was blamed on her. When the truth came out, well, uh, Jasper kinda had to go far out into the ocean to find Peridot after I snapped on her. I just felt, well, used."

"I know the feeling."

"Well, eventually, we found ourselves stuck inside a crushing trap by our Pearl. The only way we were getting out was by fusing. Of course, I was too mad at Peri to consider it. But, that's when Peri broke down. She sobbed, hard, begging me for forgiveness. She actually said 'If this is where I'm going to die, I don't want to go before I know that the best friend that I hurt forgives me.' I asked her why she did it and she said that it was because being Turquoise made her feel strong and thus, important. If I could've moved at the time, I would've slapped her. So, I did it verbally. I told her 'Peri, you have always been important. You were the first of us after Rose. You were an inspiration to many, including myself. When i saw how hard you worked to get strong, it made me want to do my best too. If I'm the strongest crystal gem, it's only because a younger me wanted to live up to the example you set and maybe even do better. So don't ever think that you're not important. I couldn't lead this team, Steven couldn't feel as loved and Jasper wouldn't have one of her best friends if you weren't around. So, you're super important.' At the moment, Peridot cried even harder. She said she wanted to smack herself for being such 'clod'. She asked if were okay now and said yes. All was forgiven. And that's when we became Turquoise again and used our Shuriken to slice our way outta there. And you know, I think the whole experience made us closer as friends. Though, I hope your Peridot never does that. If you ever do fuse and it seems like your Peridot is getting addicted to power, just tell her that little story I just told you. That should set her straight."

"I'll keep that in mind. Um, say, could you...do me a favor?"

"Sure, what?"

"Um, we kinda need your Peridot for this. And I guess mine should be there too."

"Wait, are you asking me to..."

"Yes, please."

"Alright, fine. Let's go, sis."

The Lapis' flew down to where the Peridots and Pearl were. At this time, Amethyst and Jasper hd returned from their burger run.

"Hey Peri!" Lapis A called to her Peridot.

"Yes?"

"Um, how's the search coming along?"

"I managed to quickly put together a robonoid last night and it's currently running the search for me. Pearl, my other self, and I have been discussing some more things about our world in the meantime. And um, well, my other self would like to see you know who in person."

"Great minds think alike then, cause Lapis here wants to see her too."

"Well, then, shall we?"

"Sure. I wish Garnet and the kids were here to see it, but...well, i have an idea about that. But, it'll have to wait until after the fact. So, you ready?"

"Of course, my brave leader."

"Flattery will get you everywhere. Now come on, let's fuse."

Hearing that pharse from Lapis A made main Lapis and Peridot glance at each other. They quickly looked away when their gazes met, blushing the whole time.

"Say, Peri, we haven't done a fusion dance in a while, have we?"

"No we haven't. We've became so go at this that there's no need to."

"Well, for the sake of our other selves, let's do it."

"Very well then. Okay, let's begin. Begin Syncronization."

Peridot A and Lapis A's gems began to glow as they syncronized. Then, Lapis A began to to do a waltz like dance all around Peridot A. Peridot A, meanwhile, had started to dance in what looked a break dancing style. She was popping and locking her shoulders and hips as Lapis A exapanded her circling pattern out a bit further. She began to twirl as Peridot A flipped onto one hand and began to spin. They both reached out a hand towards each other while they kept spinning and when they eventually touched, their bodies turned to light. The lights turned into a swirling mass that the two gemstones floated in. Slowly, a humanoid form emerged and solidified. When the light cleared, Peridot A and Lapis A were gone, replaced with a four armed woman at least ten feet in height.

"Hiya! I'm Turquoise. Nice to meet you. You know, it's kind of funny to see the two gems who make me outside of my memories. Speaking of those, I remember that you both wanted to see me. So? What do you think? Pearl, Amethyst? Comments from all are welcome."

"I think your overrated. Tiger's eye is way better." Jasper A said.

"Okay, comments from everyone except Jasper are welcomed."

"Um, well, I think you're really pretty." Peridot said, blushing.

"Well, thank you. But you know, half of my looks come from an alternate version of you. So, you're not shabby yourself. Or you either, Lapis."

"You're, um, not quite what I was expecting." Lapis admitted.

"How so?"

"Well, the last time I fused, my fusion looked like a centaur with arms for legs."

"Ah, yes, this world's Malachite. Peridot remembers that. Nasty piece of work, that version of my sister fusion. But, obviously, I'm far more stable than that. If the worst i get is four arms, i think that's a fair trade for looking this good. So, who would like a demonstration of my powers?"

Just then, Turquoise's bottom right arm reached up and tapped her right shoulder.

"Hmm? Oh, yes, of course. Garnet and the kids. Sure, I can do that."

Turquoise stared intently at the ocean before her, feeling for the others presence. When she locked onto it, she pointed two fingers from her upper left hand straight up. Suddenly, a huge spout of water shot up from the ocean, carrying the bubble with the Stevens and Connie inside up with it. Then she created a wave that pulled the bubble towards shore. She then had every pot and pan from inside Steven's house fly out and line up to form a railing that carried the bubble to her. Then, just to showboat a little, she spun the bubble around on one of her fingers like a basketball.

"Whoa! Who are you?" Main Steven called as he spun around helplessly inside the bubble.

"Turquoise, stop! You're gonna make us all sick." Steven A called.

"Oops. Sorry, got a little carried away there."

Turquoise set the bubble down easily and, once the kids had all recovered from the spinning, the Stevens popped it. Then, main Steven looked at Turquoise.

"So, who are you?"

"I'm Turquoise. Pleasure to meet you, Steven of this world."

"Turquoise is Lapis and Peridot's fusion." Steven A said.

"Oh yeah. I remember overhearing some stuff about her while the girls were training this morning."

"Um, not that I'm not curious to hear more about Turquoise from the gem herself, but, where's Garnet?" Connie asked.

"Oh shoot. Must've missed her when I grabbed you. Here, I'll try again." Turquoise said.

The fusion didn't get to try as Garnet suddenly came flying out of the water. A water bear type corruption emerged from the ocean after her.

"I ran into that thing down there. Stopped me from keeping up with the kids' bubble."

"I recognize that one. It's one of the corrupted gems our Jasper was keeping locked up. It got free while Smoky was fighting Jasper and it ran off." Amethyst said.

"Careful gems. This one's pudgy body deflects blunt impacts. Not even my strength's any good against it."

"Then allow me a crack at it." Turquoise said as she stretched to ready herself for up coming fight.

"Lapis A and Peridot A's fusion, Turquoise." Main Steven quickly explained.

Garnet nodded as the group watch Turquoise get to work. The corruption charged the fusion. She stopped it with her bare hands, then dug in her heels and hurled the corruption up into the air with all her might. She then had a big fist made from ocean water swat it into the side of the nearby cliff.

"It blocks blunt force!" Garnet reminded.

"I know. Just trying to keep it busy."

"But why?" Pearl asked.

"To give myself time to do this."

Suddenly, every knife in Steven's drawers flew out and sliced the corruption all over.

"Peridot wanted to show off too. And Lapis says don't worry. She'll wash all this metal stuff later. But for know, let's put the kaibash on this thing."

Turquoise held her four hands out and generated green beams from them. These beams were grabbed by water hands coming from Lapis A's gem on Turquoise's back. Each beam was incased in a bubble of water and then all of them turned into the shuriken Turquoise was known to use. She then hurled the the ninja stars at the corruption and sliced it to ribbons. It poofed and main Peridot ran over to bubble it. She then turned to face Turquoise as the others joined her.

"So, gang, any questions for little, old Turquoise?


	8. Chapter 8

After watching Turquoise in action, main Peridot had what felt like a million questions. But she just couldn't find the words.

"Hey, hey! I have an idea!" Main Steven yelled.

"What is it, Steven?" Pearl asked.

"Two words: Fusion Fight!"

"A fight?" Amethyst questioned.

"Yeah. You and Pearl turn into Opal, other me and Jasper can turn into Smoky Quartz, Connie and I can form Stevonnie and Garnet and Turquoise can stay as they are. Then, we all square off against each other., with our Peridot and Lapis as 'referees'. But, we're not doing this to prove who's the better fusion, but just to cut loose. I mean, for almost a whole day straight, we've been talking about alot serious stuff and now we gotta worry about this Zircon. I think we could all use an excuse to blow off a little steam."

"Hmm, kid's got a point. What'cha say, P? You down for it?" Amethyst asked Pearl.

"Hmm, it would be interesting to see how our mettle matches up with theirs when it comes to fusion. Alright, let's do it. Is everyone ready?"

Everyone nodded.

"Well, then, let the fusion begin."

Pearl and Amethyst did a quick dance and formed Opal. Connie and main Steven did the same and quickly formed Stevonnie. Jasper A spun around before flinging her arms out wide while Steven A did a forward roll then sprang towards his fusion partner. Upon catching Steven A, Jasper and her Steven turned into their version of smoky Quartz. Finally, the five fusions faced off in a wide circle.

"All fusions ready?" Main Peridot yelled.

The five nodded.

"Alright then. On your marks, get set, and, beat the stuffing out of each other!" Peridot joked.

"Peridot! We're not going that far." Stevonnie said.

"Says you, Curly Top!" Smoky Quartz shouted as she punched the ground near Stevonnie.

"Alright, if that's how you wanna play it. Then try this on for size." Stevonnie said as and unsheathed Rose/Connie's sword.

"Whoa, Whoa! Settle down, Stevonnie! You know what that sword does to gems." Turquoise said.

"I hope you've all got some new costumes designs in mind. Now, who wants to go poof first?" Stevonnie said darkly.

Once this train of events got started, what was supposed to have been a simple sparing match turned into Stevonnie chasing the other four fusions around with sword held high. Main Peridot and Lapis were laughing their heads off. Finally, Stevonnie got tired and stopped to catch her breath. The other fusions decided to call it quits and Turquoise, Smoky and Opal unfused.

"Well, I guess we know who the mightiest fusion is." Lapis giggled.

"All hail the mighty Stevonnie!" Peridot added.

"Hey, hey. Using Rose's sword is cheating." Lapis A argued.

"It's Connie's main weapon. Which makes it her sword now. And as such, that makes it mine too. And we were all allowed to use our weapons. There was no rule against it. You all just didn't draw yours." Stevonnie said.

"Whoa. You hear that, P?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes. Stevonnie, have you been practicing fusion lately?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Because, you just refered to yourself in the first person. You refered to Connie like a seperate being that was now part of you. Usually, it's clear to see the conversation between Steven and Connie going on inside you. But now, you act alot more like..."

"Like Garnet!" Amethyst said.

"Huh. You know, I never really paid attention. Oh, there I go again. Oops, did it again. I guess Steven and Connie have been practicing so much that they've built up their compatability. Now, instead of being sperate, it's like their minds become one along with their bodies."

"How do you feel, Stevonnie?" Garnet asked.

"Well, Steven feels really happy that they've gotten this far and Connie does too."

"That's great and all, but, how do you, specifically, feel? How does Stevonnie feel?"

"I, I feel, whole. Like, there was always something that wasn't quite right every time they made me before. But now, I feel complete. And more focused. Plus, I think feel even stronger than I ever did before."

"And that was pretty strong, considering you're mostly human and you beat up our Jasper." Amethyst said.

"Well, I wouldn't say I beat her up. More like, just drove her away." Stevonnie said, glancing over her shoulder to Jasper A.

"It's okay, kid. I know the difference between me and that other me." Jasper said, catching Stevonnie's look.

"Well, I was just trying to be considerate."

"Well, consider it appreciated."

Stevonnie nodded and then Garnet suddenly spun her around. The fusion hugged the other.

"I'm so proud of you. You are now truly experiencing fusion. Not being two people sharing a body nor being simply one person. But just simply being. Taking in every moment with this new state of heart and mind. This! This is fusion! Oh, I'm so proud of you." Garnet said, pulling down her visor to show little stars in her three eyes.

"Thanks, Garnet."

"So, uh, when are you planning to split up?" main Peridot asked.

"Why? Does it bother you, Peri?" Stevonnie asked.

"No. It's just that, from every story I've heard up till now, you've never stayed fused for very long."

"Hmm. Well, I think the longest i've ever been fused was that first time. And that was roughly a few hours. I'd like to see if I can break that."

"Okay, but just be careful. Connie does need to go home when her parents get back and I don't think they'll understand you showing up. Just, keep an 'eye' on Steven and Connie. If you feel like one of them is 'slipping away', you should probably unfuse." Pearl said.

"Understood, ma'am. Now, if you'll exuse me, I want to see if I can do something."

"What's that?" Amethyst asked.

"Well, since I'm mostly human, but far stronger than a normal human, i guess that makes me a superhuman. And, well, Steven and Connie have both read enough comic books to know how much fun having superhuman strength can be. So, I'm gonna go try to lify and throw a boulder!"

"Oh this I have to see!" Amethyst said.

"Bet ya can't throw it farther than me." Jasper said.

"We'll see. Come in! You too, Steven A. We might even get Smoky Quartz back out and see what happens."

"Yeah! Come on! Let's go!"

"I'd better go with them and make sure they don't hurt themselves."

"I'll come too." Peridot A said.

"And I'll go wash all this metal stuff Turquoise was throwing around." Lapis A said.

As the others all left, main Peridot and Lapis approached Garnet.

"Garnet?" Peridot asked.

"Yes, Peridot?"

"Do you think that Turquoise would be useful to our team?"

"Yes, I believe she would be quite handy to have available. But, if you're considering this, it's not whether she would be helpful or not that you should be considering. You need to decide how you both feel about it. Neither one of you is all that great with the process after all."

"Well, could you teach us? I'd hate for our Turquoise to turn into something like Malachite." Lapis said.

"And I want to know that I won't accidentally hurt Lazuli. I mean, just her consdering this is an honor in my book. So, I don't muck something up. So, can you teach us? Help us fix our problems?" Peridot asked.

"I might be able to. Come on. If their tossing boulders around, it's going to get loud around here. Let's go find a quiet place."

Meanwhile, in the Diamond Universe.

"Hey guys! I'm here." This world's Connie yelled as she got to Steven's house.

"Hey Connie." Steven said.

"Hello, Connie." Yellow said.

"I'm ready for training, ma'am." Connie said to Yellow Diamond.

"Hmm, well, to be honest, I'm sort of waiting for Blue and White to get back. Blue was kind of upset at White for going and messing with those whales again. I'd like to make sure they don't try to shatter each other. You can spar with the pearls in the mean time."

"Did you call for me, my diamond?" Yellow Pearl said as she stuck her head into the room.

"Pearl, we've discussed this. This is Earth, not homeworld. The 'my diamond' thing is not nescessary here."

"My apologies. Old habits die hard. Now, did you need something?"

"Well, Connie is here."

"Hello, Connie."

"Hi, Amber."

Connie and Steven called the Pearls by different names to differentiate them from each other. Yellow Pearl was dubbed amber because, though not her actual hue, she liked the name.

"Connie's looking to train. But, I'm waiting for Blue and White to get back. If they're arguing again, I'm the only one that can break them up. So, could you grab your sisters and spar with Connie until they get here?"

"But of course. Blue, White, Pink! Come on! We're gonna spar with Connie!" Yellow Pearl yelled as she opened the door fully.

"Oh, i was just getting to the good part of masked fighter Ryuho." White Pearl complained as she joined her yellow sister.

White Pearl resembled the main universe's Pearl but with slicked back, silvery white hair. Her out fit was a silver leotard with a silk like shawl over her shoulders. She was normally called Snow to differentiate her from the rest.

"Don't worry. I paused it." Came Pink Pearl as she came out of the room.

Pink Pearl, commonly called Coral by Steven because that was what shade of pink she was, had a dark pink leotard with silky pink sleeves and pant legs. Her out fit closely resembled that of a belly dancer.

"I bet I can predict who it will end." Came Blue Pearl, dubbed Azure by the kids, as she walked into the room.

"Well, don't do that. I wanna finish watching it myself. Now come on. Time's a wasting. Are you ready, Connie?" Snow said.

"Yup, let's go."

As the five sparring partners traded blows, a dark spot in the ocean began to form. I got progressively bigger until Blue Diamon finally surfaced.

" 'Phew' We were deeper than I thought." Blue said as she radiated a warm blue energy that evaporated the water from off of her.

"Oh, hi, Miss Blue!" Connie called.

"Hello, Connie. When did you get here?"

"Just a few minutes ago. Miss Yellow wanted to wait for you and Miss White to get back before we started training. Hence, this."

"I see. Pearl, make sure you give her a run money. I know you're much stronger than you look."

"Yes, of course." Azure said, blushing slightly from the praise.

"Hey, Blue, where's White?" Yellow asked.

"What? She was right behind me. Where did she..."

Just then, White Diamond sprang from the ocean and crashed down ontop of Blue.

"Sink the dink!" She shouted as she pushed her blue sister back under the water.

White Diamond laughed loudly as Blue came back up, spitting out a large out of water. White Diamond was just as big as her sisters, with slicked back, spiky hair. Her outfit consisted of a silvery, sleeveless dress with four black diamonds arranged in a diamond pattern on the chest. She wore long, black gloves and similar boots.

"White!" Blue yelled.

"Easy now, Bluesy-woosy. You wouldn't want to hurt the precious." White said, patting the black object she held.

"What is that thing?" Steven asked.

"This, Steven, is a multrali displacer. I found it at the bottom of the ocean the other day but, before I could grab it, a whale accidentally ate it. I've been trying to find the right whale and make it spit it back out. Anyway, Blue, tell him who the multrali were."

Blue sighed and gave Steven an explanation of who the multrali were, as well as what the displacer could do.

"Whoa! Cool! Can I see it?"

"Sure. Just be careful. It's one of a kind."

White bent down to hand the displacer to Steven, but Steven's hand slipped and the displacer fell. Some buttons on it's side were pressed when it fell and it immeadiately opened a wormhole. The gems could hear four voices screaming as their owners fell out of the worm hole. They too were gems. The biggest was a bismuth, the smallest a carnelian and the middle sized one a holly-blue agate. The fourth member of this group, surprisingly, was another Connie.

"Whoa!" Connie said as stopped sparing to look at the other gems.

"Who are you guys?" Steven asked.

"Ugh, we're the crystal gems." The other Connie said.

"We are too. This is our world. We accidentally pulled you here with this." Steven said, showing the displacer.

"A Multrali displacer? Well, that explains these events. And who would've thought it could be. A world where the diamonds are the crystal gems. Or as Connie puts it, the 'good guys'." Holly-blue said.

"Hey, wait, if your the crystal gems, where's your Steven?" Blue Diamond asked.

"Back home with his parents." Bismuth explained.

"You mean, he's not a member of your team?" Steven asked.

"Well, I guess he is a member. Holly's training him to be a sword fighter. Plus, he can fuse with Connie! So, yeah, he's a member." Carnelian said.

"Wait, if you sound impressed the your Steven can fuse with your Connie, does that mean that she's..." White Diamond started.

"Um, yeah. I'm half gem. My mom was Rose Quartz, leader of the crystal gems." The other Connie said as she lifted up her shirt to show her gem.

"Oh, boy. This is gonna be interesting." Yellow Diamond said.

Holly-blue agreed by saying 'Tell me about it.'


	9. Chapter 9

While the Diamonds got used to their guests in their dimension, Amethyst was laughing her head off as Stevonnie and Jasper were having their boulder throwing contest. She was laughing because of the fact that Stevonnie was actually keeping up with Jasper and this was causing Jasper to have a surprised look on her face that Amethyst thought was hilarious.

"Remember, Stevonnie! Left with your knees, not your back!" Pearl yelled, trying to be supportive of the fusion her disciple and surrogate son.

"Look at Pearl. Never thought she'd get into something like this." Amethsyt said to Peridot A.

"I can understand it, though. Like with me for my Steven, Pearl has been acting as a mother towards her Steven. And, it's natural for a mother to be proud of her child. Plus, Stevonnie is half Connie as well, and I know Pearl is proud of her student. So, since Stevonnie is the fusion of her son and her student, Pearl is doublely proud of Stevonnie."

"Yeah, I guess so. And Steven A is enjoying every second of this. Look at him over there by Pearl. He can't think of anything else other than how cool this is."

"It is pretty entertaining. I just hope he doesn't run in, wanting to join in. It would be dangerous."

"Yeah. Hey, uh, Peri?"

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course, go right ahead."

"Well, first, I'm curious, how did you know Zircon's pod was buried here?"

"I didn't until Garnet had her vision. All I knew was that I had read about Zircon while searching through gem databases in our world. But, the data was incomplete. It didn't give an exact timeline for the story, so I didn't know exactly when it happened. Also, exactly which colony it was buried in was also missing. So, It could've been any colony. They were all 'the new colony' at one point or another after all. So, I didn't know it was Earth until Garnet's vision. After that, Earth was the only place that made sense."

"I see. So, um, how do I ask this next one without sounding like a jerk? Um, ah heck I'll just say it. If you could chose between keeping your Steven and having your Rose back, which would you chose?"

"Is this related to Pearl?"

"Kind of. I mean, I know she loves Steven. Me and Garnet love him too, but, unlike us, Pearl is...complicated when it comes to Steven. I mean, she misses Rose so much. We all do, but her more than anyone. Sometimes, it gets hard to tell if Pearl would give up Steven to get Rose back or not. So, since you seem to be the 'pearl' of your team, I was wondering what you thought."

"Hmm, admittedly, at first, I would've given him up. I would've given anything to have Rose back. But, now that i've seen so much with my Steven, been through so many good and bad times with him, it makes my proverbial heart ache to know that I would've given him up without the slightest thought at one point. I kept telling myself that this was what Rose wanted. I couldn't take that away. So, I resolved to looking over him in honor of her, like i said earlier. I only came to the realizations that I mentioned earlier after I'd spent more time with him. But, that's the past. In the here and now, speaking as his surrogate mother, I have to say that I love my Steven so much that there is not a power in our universe, this universe, or any other universe that is strong enough to make me give up my son. I know he's not actually mine, he's Rose's. But, to honor my friendship with Rose and this love I feel for Steven, I will gladly say that Steven is my baby and nothing can ever tear him away from me. I might have moments where I slip up and say things out of context that seem like i would trade him. But at my core, just the thought of it chills my facets. And I'm sure that Pearl feels the same way. She misses her Rose terribly too, but I don't think she would ever trade her Steven. She wouldn't trade her baby away. I know she wouldn't. Believe that if you never believe anything else, Amethyst."

Amethyst nodded in understanding.

"You know, now that I think about it, I did blame Greg for Rose being gone once. So, I guess I'm not the one to be pointing fingers. What's that old saying? When you point the finger at some one, there's three more pointing back at you."

"We've all been guilty of it. We all miss Rose, but we all also love Steven. We can't have both, so we find ourselves at an impass we can't break free from. We just have to continue on, watching over Steven in Rose's place."

"Yeah. Well, I think it's time to change the subject before we get all depressed. Um...Hey! Are the me and Pearl of your world kind of like the Peridot and Lapis here?"

"You mean, are they fusion-phobic? Yes, they are. And for the exact same reasons as this world's me and Lapis. Oh, it occurs to me that you haven't heard about them yet. Here, let me give you the quick version."

Peridot A quickly went over the histories of her world's Pearl and Amethyst.

"Wow. Glad I'm not your Amethyst. Poor girl. Yeah, I'd hate fusion too if that happened to me."

"She's coming around. Her and Pearl. Especially after they met Opal and her team during our first tangle with other dimensions."

"Huh. So, your first time, the other team was brought to you. This time you were dragged to another world. Wonder if the next time for us will have us stuck in another dimension?"

"Well, if it happens, I hope the other dimension you end up in is as hospitable as this one is."

"Yeah, I hope so too. Now, um, I wanna ask you something else."

"Okay."

"Well, I know your Amethyst is a fusion phobe, but I'm not. And, obviously, you aren't either. So, I was wondering two things. One: have you thought about fusing with your Amethyst? And two: do you think we could fuse or would being from different dimensions get in the way?"

"Well, firstly, yes, I have considered it. I would be willing to be our Amethyst's fusion partner if she was willing to try it again. Same for our Pearl. And secondly, I don't think it would be a problem. In fact, I'm curious myself now that you brought it up. So..."

"You wanna go for it? We'd surprise the heck outta everybody if it works."

"Yes, we would. And that make it worth it on it's own. Alright, Amethyst. I'm ready if you are."

"Well, come on then. Let's mash it up!"

Meanwhile, Pearl and the others were too focused on the boulder competition to notice what Amethyst and Peridot A were up to.

"Wow, kid. Never thought i'd see some one who could give me a run like this." Jasper A said.

"Thanks for letting me test my mettle against you, Jasper." Stevonnie said.

"Not a problem, kid. What are friends for?"

"Hey! Mind if I give it shot?" Came an unfamiliar voice.

The gang looked to the source of the voice and saw a very tall woman. She looked to be slightly taller than Opal. Her figure, proportion wise, was similar to Garnet. She had lime green skin and purple visor covering her four eyes. Her hair was plainum blonde with a green ting and fan outward in a triangle shape, similar to main Peridots but much more wild looking. Her outfit was a purple on top, green on the bottom body suit that stoped at her upper thigh, then a pair a of thigh high purple leggings with stars cut out of the knees. Metallic white and purple boots cover her feet and dark green metallic gloves were on her hands. Her suit was open enough on top to reveal an amethyst gem with a green ring around it's facets. The same was true for the peridot gem on her forehead, only reversed. This strange new lady beamed a wide grin as the others took in the sight of her. Finally, Steven A spoke up, star eyed.

"Whoa! Are you who I think you are?"

"The name's Fluorite. And yeah, I'm the fusion of Amthyst and Peridot. Or, Peridot A. Whatever. Anyway, sup, peeps?"

"Whaaaaat!?" Pearl yelled.

"Did you know we could do that?" Steven A asked Jasper.

"No clue. But, I know what we should do now."

"And what's that?"

"Show Miss Fluorite here to the other Peridot. She's gonna flip her facets over this. Come on eveybody."

Stevonnie, finally growing tired, unfused and Steven and Connie joined the others. They couldn't hide the grins on their faces as the apporached the other gems.

"Hey, Lapis! Get out here!" Jasper A called to Lapis A.

Lapis A flew out of a window and down to the others.

"What is it, Jasper? i just got the last load of metal stuff dry and was getting ready to put it away."

"Well, we have somebody we'd like you all to meet."

"Alright, let's meet this stranger." Lapis A said, sitting down cross legged next to her main universe twin.

Jasper A gave a loud whistle and Fluorite emerged from behind a rock.

"Heya, I'm Fluorite. Nice to meet ya."

Lapis A immeadiately noticed the peridot and amethyst gems on Fluorite's body.

"Are you..the fusion of our Peri and this world's Amethyst?"

"Sure am. Peri and Amy were talking while everybody else was watching Stevonnie and Jasper play meatheads. Amy brought up the question of whether or not the two sets of gems could fuse. And, as you can see, yes, yes you can."

Fluorite noticed main Peridot's mouth hanging open, so she knelt down and gently pushed it shut.

"I take it that you like what you see." Fluorite said playfully.

Peridot's mind was on the fritz. In less than an hour, she had seen the result of her, or at least a version of her, fusing with two of her three favorite people. The fact that her alternate self could fuse her crystal gems brought up possibilities that boggled her mind.

"Um, I need you to unfuse." Main Peridot said.

"Why? Am I just too much for ya?" Fluorite said with a cheeky grin.

"No. It's because I need to see what happens when the other me fuses with Garnet. Pearl too! Oh, and maybe Stevonnie and Smoky Quartz! Hmm, would Alexandrite be asking too much? Ooh! What about a fusion of Alexandrite and Ammolite! I have to see that! 'Ahem' For scientific reasons of course. As leader of this world's crystal gems, I need to see all the possibilites that are available."

"Heh. Looks like somebody's going from fusion phobe to fuse-aholic." Fluorite laughed.

"More like narcissist. Did you notice that all of those fusions involve Peridot A, who's alternate version of her? I bet she just wants to see how good looking all those fusions turn out to be." Main Lapis said bluntly.

"Lazuli! Do you really think I'm that self centered?"

"Not really. But, you do have a tendency to get carried away. Not a very good quality for the leader of the crystal gems, right?" Lapis kidded.

"Hmph! Just for that, I'm not fixing the tv when we eventually get back. Let's see how you like not watching camp pining hearts for a while."

"I got books, Peri. I'll be fine. What about you?"

"I, uh, I'll be practicing my metal powers! And swordsmanship too! Pearl, I need you train me. Oh, and we'll need Opal cause she's an archer. Who better to teach to marksmanship, right?"

"Settle down, Peridot. You know I'm just trying to get you flustered." Main Lapis said.

"But why do it in the first place?"

"Because you look cute when your flustered, just like my Peri." Lapis A said with a laugh.

"Lapis!" Peridot and the Peridot A side of Fluorite yelled.

Just then, there came a beeping.

"What's that sound?" Main Peridot asked.

"It's Peridot's limb enhancers. Looks like their alert functions still work when she's fused." Fluorite said, checking one of her gauntlets.

"Well, what's the alert say?" Pearl asked.

Fluorite eye's grew wide as she read the alert through a screen she created. She immeadiately seperated into Peridot A and Amethyst again. Peridot A had an 'in a hurry' look on her face.

"Peri, what is it?" Lapis A asked.

"The Robonoid! It finally found something!"

"Really?! What is it?" Jasper asked.

"It found some data on Zircon at the Mirror Sea Spire."

"Whoa, there's another sea spire? Just how many gem based places are there on Earth?" Main Steven asked Pearl.

"There's alot, Steven. One of these days, I'm going to have to take you on a grand tour of all them. But for now, let's focus on the task at hand. What did the data say?"

"That's just it. The Robonoid could only scratch the surface with the remote access we have. To get the nitty-gritty of it, we'll need manual access. So, who's up for a field trip?"

Everyone raised their hands in unison.

"Well then. Let's get going! To the mirror sea spire!"


	10. Chapter 10

The team beamed into the area that the mirror sea spire was located in. As soon as the light from the warp pad cleared, the Stevens and Connie were amazed by the spire. It looked very similar to the lunar sea spire the boys had already seen, but had a navy blue tint to it. Connie noticed some sea lions sunning themselves on the shore.

"Oh, those are sea lions! Looks like the galapagos variety. So, we must be in the pacific ocean." Connie said.

"Good eye, Connie. Those are the galapagos variety of sea lions. Must be a vagrant troop that wandered out here and 'set up camp', because we are about a hundred miles away from the galapagos. Sturdy little creatures, those sea lions. To make a trip that far without the help of a warp pad." Peridot A explained.

"So, why is this place called the mirror sea spire?" Main Steven asked.

"Well, Steven, I could tell you, but it'd be easier to show you. Follow me to the shore." Pearl said.

Everyone walked to the shore.

"Look down at the the water." Pearl said.

When main Steven looked down, he noticed that he could see his reflection.

"Hey, I can see myself. Oh! I get it! The water's so good here that it acts like a mirror."

"Well, you're half right. The water was pretty clear when homeworld first started to build the spire. Someone must have liked what they saw, because they installed specialized machinery to purify the water to it's current state. And so, the water became mirror like in it's reflectiveness. Hence, the spire was named the mirror sea spire. Just like how the lunar sea spire was named after the moon that it had a constantly great view of." Peridot A said.

"I see. Hey, is there a goddess statue here like there was for the other spire?"

"Yes, there is. And, as far as I know, it's still in it's appropriate spot at the top of the spire." Pearl said.

"It must be. If it wasn't, the machinery keeping the water the way it is wouldn't be functioning." Peridot A said.

"Hey, Lapis A, are there sea spires in your world too? You said you and the other Lapis' were sent here to get rid of the water." Main Steven asked.

"There are, Steven. I think that, after my 'little stunt', homeworld might have thought that giving such a vast arsenal to us lapis' wouldn't be such a good idea. And, considering that I can do this..."

Lapis A made a huge amount of water fly out of the ocean, turn into a vaguely bird-like shape and then fly around for a moment before releasing it back into the ocean.

"Without really trying and by myself, well, I hate to agree with them, but tactically speaking, they're right. If a Lapis got the bright idea to use it against homeworld, it could turn into quite the mess. So, homeworld decided to scrap the terraforming project and find something else to do with the water, rather than giving any of us lapis' so much power. I guess, eventually, they discovered how pretty water is when used as a setting or for decoration. And so, we have the spires."

"You know, I always wondered why they called you guys terraformers when you mostly just drained and manipulated water. I mean, doesn't terraforming mean to reshape the ground? I'd get it if you used the water to do terraforming, but I never heard or saw that happen. So, shouldn't you be called aquaformers or something like that?" Jasper A asked.

"Huh, you know what, Jasper? I have been around for thousands of years and i never thought of that. It would make more sense to call us aquaformers. But, maybe, my troop was only responsible for the draining process. There might've been others who actually used the water for terraforming and we just never met them." Lapis A said.

"So, you're team should've been called aquaformers or just the drainers or something like that."

"Well, I think i did hear the term 'D team' used to describe us a time or two. Maybe that meant drainage team or some such. Any way, it doesn't matter. I'm a crystal gem now."

"And a thumpin' good one, might I add." Jasper said with a chuckle.

"Like I told Peri earlier, flattery will get you everywhere. Now, come on Jaz. We've got a mission to complete."

"Yes, ma'am! Shall I open the door for us and our friends, Miss Lap?"

"If you would. Please, proceed."

"Then here I go!" Jasper shouted as she tucked into her spin dash and flew at the door.

Jasper smashed into the door and blew it open as the others ran in behind her.

"Knock knock!" Jasper shouted as flipped out of her spin dash and onto her feet.

"Well, I can see one thing you have in common with the Jasper here. You're both really loud." Main Lapis said.

"Sorry about that, princess. I get a bit excited sometimes. Comes from being a gladiator for the first part of my life. It put a 'warriors spirit' into me, as some human friends of mine used to say. So, I get excited by getting to hit things really hard after I haven't done it in a while. Don't worry though, I got it outta my system for a while now. So, Peri, um, my Peri, which way do we go now?"

"Hmm, assuming the spire is laid out the same way here as it is in our world, then we need to proceed down that hall and hang a right, followed by two lefts. That should take us directly into the data storage area, according to this map I dug up from the data we have." Peridot A said, while pointing to the aforementioned hall.

"Alright. You lead, we'll follow."

"Okay, gems. Weapons out. We don't know what we might run into in here. Could just be crystal shrimp like at the other spire, but it might be far worse. Best be prepared." Lapis A said as she formed fists from her water wings.

"You heard her. Weapons out." Garnet said to her team and summoned her gauntlets.

Peridot A used her powers to pull a decorative sword from off the wall and gave it to her main universe twin.

"Here. Best way to learn swordsmanship is by practicing. Think of this mission as a sort trial by fire. But, I guess you could use a few pointers. First of all, proper stance is key in...Oh, um, we'll be a minute everyone. Just follow the directions I mentioned earlier and we'll catch up shortly."

"Don't be long, Peri." Lapis A said.

"Just a few minutes, tops."

"Alright, come on everybody."

As the team walked on, main Steven was looking all over the place.

"Wow. This place is pretty cool. I can see why gems used to like hanging out here."

"It was pretty nice. And, since the goddess statue seems to still be functioning, we could turn this into our own private getaway." Pearl said.

"Really? We could make this our private vacation spot?"

"Well, sure. Even Earth's defenders deserve a little r and r now and then."

"Um, who are you and what you have done with Pearl?" Amethyst asked.

"Amethyst, I'm same person I've always been."

"Nuh-uh. You never talk like that. Better start explainin' 'P'."

"Look, I was just thinking that Steven and Connie do a lot of hard work and when it comes to relaxing afterwords, the most they've got is going to the beach. Which they can do at anytime, considering our home town is called "Beach City'. So, i thought that maybe having our own 'oasis' would be good for them. And, maybe a little for us as well."

"Hmm, you got point. But, we should probably make sure this place ain't crawlin' with crystal shrimp first."

"Hmph. You two need to practice fusing into Opal some more." Garnet said.

"Why, Garnet?" Pearl asked.

"Can't you hear yourselves? What you said sounded more like something Amethyst would say and then what Amethyst said sounded like one of your usual lines. Your personalities are rubbing off on each other when you fuse. That's why you need a little more practice."

"Oh my stars, you're right! Oh, I don't wanna turn into a purple Pearl!" Amethyst panicked.

Chuckling could be heard coming from Jasper.

"You guys are funny. I like this world more all the time."

"Well, you can't stay." Main Lapis said.

"Duh, I know that. The displacer will automatically send us back at the end of the week. Hmm, I wonder if that means all seven days, including the weekend, or just monday through friday? Hmm, it was monday when we got here, right?"

"It was in our world. I don't think the time passes diffrent here." Main Lapis said.

"Who care if it does or not? Let's just get this over with cause I wanna hurry up and go home." Main Lapis said.

"I know, I know. Amy filled me in on the whole mirror thing while we were going out for burgers earlier. i know you can't exactly feel comfortable being in a place with mirror in it's name. Just, try to a bear for a little while longer, okay?"

"This place's name is only half the problem."

"Half? What's the other half?"

"I'm looking at her." Lapis said, staring intently at Jasper A.

"What? Me? What did I do? Look, if this is about that door, I'm sure the goddess statue's already fixed it."

"Arg! You just don't get it do you? Oh, never mind. Let's just go get this data." Main Lapis said and stormed off.

"Jeez. What crawled up in her vein and died?"

"Jasper...You have to understand. Unlike me, she hasn't had a good experience with fusion." Lapis A said.

"Fusion?"

"This world's Malachite is a swap for our Sugilite."

"Oh! So, then, the other me...oh! Man, she's lucky she's already poofed and bubbled. Cause I'd do it myself if she was still out and about. Man, I'm starting to rethink asking you all to make her into a crystal gem. Maybe some gems just can't be saved."

"If there's anything of you in our Jasper, then she has a chance." Pearl said, laying a hand on Jasper A's shoulder.

"Well, thanks for saying that, Pearl. But, what brought this on all of a sudden? She seemed to be okay with me up until now."

"It could be the name of this place, the fact that we're surrounded by ocean, which was where Malachite 'resided' for some time here, or you acting all 'rowdy' like our Jasper did." Pearl said.

"She was fond of hitting stuff." Amethyst said.

"Oh, I see. The way I'm acting right now reminds her a little bit of the other Jasper. Now I get it."

"I'm sure she knows you're different, but, you look close enough to the same as our Jasper to 'get under her skin'." Pearl said.

"Just give her some space and some time. She'll be alright." Garnet said.

"Gotcha."

"Hey, you guys!" the group heard behind them.

They turned to see the Peridots catching up.

"Hey, where's the other Lapis?" Peridot A asked.

"She's having a bit of an issue with Jasper right now." Lapis A said.

"What did you do now, Jaz?" Peridot A asked.

"She didn't do anything. Its just that, Jaz is reminding my twin of this world's Jasper and what happened between them."

"Oh, I see. The Sugilite to Malachite swap."

"Exactly. She got upset just a few moments ago and ran on ahead. Come on. Let's catch up to her."

Just then, the group heard main Lapis scream.

"That was Lazuli! Lapis, hang on! I'm coming!" Main Peridot yelled.

The group ran into the room they heard Lapis scream from. They saw the blue gem pinned to the wall by a large, vaguely bull like corruption.

"Lapis!" Peridot yelled.

"Let go of her, you monster!" Jasper A yelled.

Jasper performed her signature spin dash into the creature's side and knocked it away.

"Lapis! Are you okay?!" Main Peridot yelled as she ran up to her friend.

"Yeah. A little roughed up but, otherwise good."

"Good, I'm glad to hear it." Jasper A said.

"Yeah, I'm sure you are." Main Lapis said sarcastically.

"Listen, princess, I'm not your Jasper. I might look like her, sound like her and, occansionally, act like her. But, I'm not her. I'm not the one who coerced you into a jacked-up fusion. I'm not the one who tried to make an army out of corrupted gems. What I am is a crystal gem! A defender of Earth and everything and everyone who lives on it. And since I'm on this version of Earth right now, that includes you."

"I bet you wouldn't bother if I didn't look like your Lapis."

"Man, girl, I oughta slap the blue off of you for saying something so dumb. I don't care what you look like, what Earth you're from or even the fact that you're a gem. I care about the Earth, all versions of it and everything that lives on them. So, believe it not, I actually do care about you. Not that you're making it easy, mind you."

"Hey! Can we deal with the corrupted monster and then argue?" Peridot A yelled.

"Yeah. Hey, other Peri, I got an idea. Come here." Jasper said.

"Okay!"

"Alright, hop up on my shoulders. I gonna hit that thing as hard as I can and knock it into the air. Then, I'm gonna jump up and knock it back down to the floor. On the way down, I'll throw you at it. You take that sword and use every scrap of power you've got to drive it home. Got it?"

"Got it!" Main Peridot said as she climbed aboard.

"Alright, here we go!"

Jasper's plan went smoothly. She knocked the creature into the air with enough force to cause a shockwave that cracked the floor. She then jumped up and knocked the creature back down. It landed hard and cracked the floor further. Then Jasper threw Peridot, who literally went screaming in and drove the sword into the creature. Finally poofing it. Main Peridot bubbled the creature and then sent off.

"And that's what you get for hurting Lazuli!" Peridot said triumphantly, while stamping her foot down.

This finaly impact was the proverbial straw that broke the camel's back and the cracked floor gave way. Peridot fell into the hole. Jasper tried to reach out to catch but ended up slipping into the whole herself. They fell too fast for anyone to react.

"Peridot! Jasper! Are you okay?!" The Stevens yelled into the whole.

"Yeah, we're good. Can't really get back up there on our own though." Jasper called.

"Come on, Lapis. I'll grab Jasper and you carry Peridot." Lapis A said.

"Fine."

The water manipulators flew down into the whole and down to their fellows. But, just as the reached them, the goddess statue caused the floor to 'heal up' and sealed the four inside the whole.

"Oh no! Garnet, quick! Make another hole!" Main Steven yelled.

Garnet summoned her gauntlets and pounded away on the floor.

"It's no good. The goddess statue must've made the floor stronger than before to make sure it wouldn't break again."

"Well, I'm not too worried. My Lapis is with them. That gem will stop at nothing to keep her friends safe. So, I'm sure she'll find a way out. They'll catch up as soon as their able. Come on. Let's grab that data and see if there's a map we can use to meet up with them." Peridot A said.

"Are you sure about this, Peri?" Steven A asked.

"Come on, Steven. You know Lapis. She'd fight the sun if it was a danger to her friends. So, I'm sure that, as long as she's with them, they'll be okay. I'm sure she'd tell the same thing if I was down there instead. Now, come on. The other Lapis will really be ready to leave after this."

"Right. Let's go."

Meanwhile, Main Lapis was on the verge of swearing at the top of her 'lungs' while main Peridot lit up the area with her gem.

"This is all your fault! All you jaspers are the same! You wreck everything you touch!"

"Hey, how was I supposed to know that the floor would collapse and then seal shut that fast?"

"Gems, Gems! That's enough! Look, it's nobody's fault. No one could've predicted this. Well, maybe Garnet could've but, she didn't so...anyway, look. We're all in this together. We will find a way out and then we will make our way back to our friends. Now, I think that this might have been part of a trap room that never got finished or was sealed away for one reason or another. Regardless though, it means no doors. So, Jasper, make a door." Lapis A said.

"Yes, ma'am." Jasper said and punched the nearest wall as hard as she could.

She busted a good sized hole in the wall and looked inside.

"It's lit up on it's own in here. This is part of the main spire. Come on!"

"Um, Lapis A?" Peridot asked.

"Yes?"

"Um, I just realized how little you've used your water powers since we got here. Is something wrong? Cause, the spire is surrounded by water."

"Yeah, there is something wrong. It's like something is blocking my connection."

"Mine too." Main Lapis said. "That's why that corruption got me as bad as it did."

"Hmm, it may be a piece of gem tech doing it. We should keep an eye out for it while we try to get back to the others."

"Agreed. Now, come on. Let's get a move on. Jasper, take point. Until we get our connections working again, you're heavy hitter." Lapis A said.

"You got it. Now follow me."


	11. Chapter 11

As the impromptu team made their way through the spire, main lapis was sulking and lagging behind the group.

"Hey, come on, Lazuli. Don't you think you're being just a little unfair to this Jasper?" Main Peridot said, backing up to main Lapis.

"Peridot, didn't you say just being around Jasper gave you a headache?" Main Lapis semi-hissed.

"Yeah, but that was our Jasper. And I solved that problem when I shot a metal spike through her gut. And now look where we are, post Jasper. We have friends, a home, 'cough' each other 'cough', and a chance to make something of ourselves. Homeworld had specific tasks for us. Technician for me and terraformer for you, but, well just look at our counterparts. Peridot A is one of the most skilled gems I've ever met with a wide variety of abilities. She was a founder of the crystal gems in her world. The only person that was above her was that world's Rose Quartz. And then Lapis A up there, whoo boy. First rebel ever, even before there was a rebellion. Obviously became one of the 'inner circle' with Rose Quarz and myself, I mean, well you know what I mean. And then, when Rose went away to give birth to Steven, the big boss gem named her the leader. The Leader, Lazuli! My other self and Jasper, and any other gems who join them, answer to her. My point is, they are a shining example of everything we could be if we put our minds to it. And then, Jasper A, she's proof that there is good in everyone. She volunteered to protect the Earth as soon as she was given a chance. And she served faithfully, and still does. That's one good point our Jasper had. She was forever loyal to the one she cared about the most. Pink Diamond for our Jasper and Rose for Jasper A. I really do wonder what might have happened if our Jasper had met Rose before swearing such loyalty to Pink Diamond. I also wonder if maybe, just maybe, it's possible to redeem our Jasper. I mean, how many times did I try to destroy the crystals here and they still welcomed me into their ranks? If I can be saved, maybe Jasper can be too. Not saying I'd wanna form a secondary crystal gem team with her, but I think Jasper A is proof that there might be a chance for our Jasper. If there's any of her in our Jasper, well, it just might be possible. And, even if it's not, that doesn't change the fact that this Jasper is not our Jasper. She only wants to help and be our friend."

"Friend?!" Main Lapis scoffed.

"Yes, friend. She has not made one snide remark or bossed anyone around. Lapis, she's being sincere with everything she's said and done since she got here. I know you don't trust her, on account of our Jasper but, you should at least give her a chance. Just, think of her as a totally diffrent gem that just happens to look like Jasper."

"'Sigh' I know she's not the same but...i guess it's just her face and voice. When you live with that image and voice merged into your mind for as long as i did, it makes it hard to shake off all the bad things that happened."

"'Sigh' You know, Lapis, we can hear you guys up here. Now, let me say, the other Jasper deserves all the blame she can get for her part in the Malachite thing that happened here. But, well, it takes at least two to do the fusion tango. At some point, you need to accept, admit and move past your part in it too." Jasper A said.

"Er, Jasper A, it might not be wise to bring that up now." Main Peridot said with her hands up defensively.

"Maybe, maybe not. But, I must say that I agree with Jaz." Lapis A said.

"You what?!" main Lapis screamed.

"You heard me. I agree with her. And i know, somewhere inside, you do too. After all, one reason you're hesitant to try fusing with Peridot there is because you don't trust yourself with fusion after Malachite. You told me that much when we talked on top of the temple. So, there's a chink in your 'everything is Jasper's fault' armor. I'm telling you, Lapis, you worry me. You have a lot of self-loathing, but also a knee-jerk, almost instinctive defense mechanism in the form of blaming others for how you feel. And that's not fair. I mean, you wanna blame the crystal gems of this world for being stuck in that mirror? That's fine. They were, technically, in the wrong and Steven did the right thing by letting you out. And then you want to blame Jasper, and Peridot there for a while, for being dragged back to Earth? That's okay too. You weren't given a choice in that matter. But blaming Jasper for everything Malachite did? That's not right, because it's not true. Half of Malachite was you. Half of her monsterous form and aggression was you. And half of what you and Jasper did to each other as Malachite was by your choice. You need to admit that and move on. Because when it creeps up on you like I know it does, you start hating yourself again. And then your mind clearly splits, half of it still locked up in self-loathing while the other is defending you by blaming it all on Jasper. The only reason anyone else hears the defense is because you actually voice that part. Now, you wanna know how I know all of this and why it worries me?"

"Uh, y-yeah."

"It's because, back during the war in our world, I was friends with a red topaz. We were a powerful team and a great fusion in the form of Corundum. But, she had the same problems you do and I could feel them when we fused. Do you know what happened to her?"

"She got poofed by homeworld gems?"

"No. She threw herself at her work for the rebellion to try to mask the internal conflict she felt. Eventually, the strees from inside combined with the stress from outside and it broke her."

"You mean..."

"Yes. Her mind finally snapped and she became corrupted. I was the one who poofed and bubbled her. Now do you see why I worry about you? I see so much of her in you. Never mind the fact that your me from another dimension. That's why I push so hard for you to join the crystal gems. Because, as cliche as it sounds, friends make everything easier. Red didn't start to really slide down towards corruption until she started trying to do it all on her own, like your doing. I want you to have friends, so that you have shoulders to cry on, ears for listening to your problems and hands reaching out to pull you up when you're down."

"Well, I have Peridot and Steven."

"And that's a great start. My Peri is one of my best friends too. And everyone knows how much I love my Stevie. But problems, no, scars as deep and troubling as yours...well, they can't be tackled with just two friends. You need more. And you've got at least three others waiting for you to accept them in Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl...Oh, no, wait. There's Connie too. So four."

"Eight if you count the four of us." Jasper A added.

"You...you're serious." Main Lapis said.

"As a heart attack to human."

"I..I just don't..."

"Red Topaz." Lapis A reminded sternly.

Main Lapis went silent. Inside, she knew Jasper A and Lapis A were right.

"Well...come on, everybody. Time's a'waistin', heh heh." Main Peridot said uneasily.

As the gems walked on, main Peridot questioned Lapis A over various fusion ideas she'd thought up. She was honestly curious, but she was also trying to fill the silence flowing around the group.

"So, since we know Steven can fuse with both gems and humans, does that mean that Stevonnie could further fuse? Like, Pearl's close to Steven and Connie so, could she fuse with Stevonnie?"

"Hmm, all this theorizing is really more up my Peri's alley but I guess it could work. But, it would probably be taxing on Steven. After all, Steven is the one who can fuse with both gems and humans, so he would be the linch-pin holding Pearl, Connie and himself together. So, it might work, but it might not last long. It would probably depend on how long Steven could hold out. Hmm, come to think of it, Rose and Pearl's fusion was Rainbow Quartz. I picked that up from Peri when we fused into Turquoise earlier. So, if Pearl and Steven fused, it would likely be another version of Rainbow Quartz. So, in Stevonnie's case, the fusion would likely be Rainbow Quartz-esque. But, what would it's name be?"

"Well, nothing I can think of sounds anything less than ridiculous. Like, say, Stevonnibow Quartz? That just has clody name written all over it. I doubt the Pearl side of the equation would allow for such a silly name, so I'd imagine it'd be something simple. Like, I don't know, Stevonnie Quartz?"

"That does sound really simple, but, knowing Pearl, that also sounds about right. Hmm, what would a fusion of Peri and Stevonnie be called?"

"Well, that one would be a little easier. Siderite is the fusion of Rose, and most likely Steven, and my other self. So, a combination of Siderite and Stevonnie? Hmm, it sounds funny but, I'm gonna go with Sideronnie."

"Sideronnie? Ha ha! That's sounds so perfect that i'm tempted to try to make it happen. All fear the might of Sideronnie! The greatest fusion of all..." Lapis A trailed off.

"Huh? What's wrong?" main Peridot questioned.

"Lapis, you feel that?" Lapis A questioned.

"Yeah."

"What is it?" Peridot questioned again.

"Well, it should come as no surprise that we've both been trying to use our water powers while we've been walking. Trying to figure out why they won't work. And, in trying to get them to work, we've seemingly caused a chain-reaction that's let us lock on to what's blocking our connection to the water."

"Whoa. Is that true, Lazuli?"

"Yeah. Every time A over there would manipulate water, I could feel it through my own connection to it."

"Hmm, guess I need a lot more training, cause i don't feel anything when Peridot A manipulates metal near me. But, that doesn't matter now. Where is this thing?"

"On the other side of this wall." Lapis A said, touching the nearby wall.

"Shall I?" Jasper A asked.

"Do it."

"Hiiiyah!" Jasper A shouted as she punched a hole in the wall.

The foursome ran into the room on the other side of the wall. Inside, they found large, gem powered machine floating in the center of the room. It resembled the obelisk device Pearl had told Peridot about in over all shape, but was bigger, light blue in color and had several large prisms loosely connected to it in a way that looked like wings.

"This is it! This is what's been holding us back!" Lapis A said.

"Hey, look, it's got a lapis lazuli gem powering it. No wonder it was shutting down your connection. The tech around it was both using and powering up the gem's water power." Jasper A said.

"Darn you, homeworld." Main Lapis said, with her fist shaking.

Lapis created as strong of water wings as she could manage and flew at the machine. Suddenly though, water started filling the room from portholes place all around the place. The machine reacted defensively against Lapis using this water by forming a water whip that smacked her back down to the floor.

"Lazuli! Oh that's it! I'm taking you down myself!" Peridot screamed and rushed the machine with her sword held high.

The machine called on more water whips, but Peridot started to slash them away and make her way towards the machine.

"Keep my stance wide, keep my body lowered, as I'm moving forward, remember balance is the key! Right foot, left foot, now go even faster, and as I'm moving backwards, I'll keep all eyes on me." Peridot sang to remind herself of twin's swordfighting tips and continuing to fend off the watery tendrils.

"Whoa! Go, lil' Peri." Jasper said, honestly impressed.

"She's doing pretty good, but she can't fight all of these water whips on her own. Give her back up, Jasper. I'll tend to Lapis."

"You got it!" Jasper said and then spin-dashed her way towards the machine.

Percieving another attacker, the machine called on a consentrated blast of water to knock Jasper across the room.

"Arg! It's gonna take more than that to stop me!" Jasper shouted and summoned her helmet.

Jasper then tried several more spin dashes and flying punches, but kept getting knocked around. By this time, the Lapis' had gotten into the fight by shooting as many razor sharp icicles at the machine as they could. But, the machine kept turning them in to water, which it then shot back at them. Peridot ran in and slashed rapidly at the tendrils until one grabbed her left foot and threw her to the floor.

"Peridot!" Main Lapis called.

Peridot pushed herself off the floor, while reciting more lines from her twin.

"Deep down, I know, I'm not built for fighting. But, that doesn't mean I'm not prepared to try. With this sword, I will stand and fight. And protect what matters, with all my might. Cause I can do this for her, and i can do it for them. Lapis, Steven and the crystal gems. I'm just, a small dot, with not too much power. But I'll get stronger by the hour. Until I'm so much bolder. And I'll stand with them all, shoulder to shoulder. Yes I can do it for her and I can do it for them. Lapis, Steven and the crystal gems!" Peridot sang as a battle cry of sorts and continued her attack.

Just then, Jasper got swatted away again and into Peridot.

"Sorry, Dot. Lapis, look, we're getting no where like this. Not even with Dot turing on her 'beast mode' as the internet kids say. We need something stronger. Something that can take the hits and not get knocked down."

"What do you have in mind?" Lapis asked.

"I think you know who I'm thinking of."

"But..." Lapis A started, glancing at main Lapis.

"Look, it's either that or we keep getting our butts kicked while we listen to Dot sing off key."

"Hey!" Peridot said, struggling her way up to her feet.

"Lap, please. It's the only way we're getting out of here. I can feel it when those water blasts hit. This thing's increasing the water pressure all the time. It's only a matter of time till it reaches levels even we can't take. And if Dot and I go down, well, I hate to think about what might happen to you and other Lapis while your powers aren't working right."

"I guess you're right. Alright, let's do it. I'm sorry, Lapis. If this upsets you, please forgive us. Come on Jasper."

Lapis A and Jasper A stepped forward and performed a dance main Lapis knew all to well. One bright flash of light later, the alternate Malachite appeared, encased in a floating block of ice. She broke free with a mighty roar and touched down.

"Ah! About time I got some action again. Alright, time to kick some metal behind! Come at me!" Malchite called in a unique voice Lapis immeadiately recognized as different from her version.

Registering Malachite as the biggest threat, the machine turned it's attention over to her while Peridot backed Lapis away. Malachite grappled the machine and attempted to pull out the the gem powering it. But, a powerful blast of water shoved her away.

"Playing hardball, eh? Okay, I can do that too." Malachite called and summoned her version of Jasper's helmet.

She performed a spin dash at three times Jasper's normal speed and managed to crash into the machine. This sent it flying into the wall. Malachite sprang at it and grabbed one of the prisms that made up it's 'wings'. She used this to smash several of the other prisms.

"Hey, i can feel my water power getting stronger the more I break this thing. Okay, I think i can finally bust out the piece de resistance."

Malachite plucked the helmet off of her head and then had water hands from her back grab it. In a quick flash of light, the two weapons combined into an icy battle axe. Malachite slashed the machine several times before it pushed her back with the most intense stream of water yet.

"Okay, I think it's time to put this one to bed." Malachite said and then grabbed Peridot and Lapis with one of her free hands.

"Ah! No! Let go of me, you monster!" Lapis yelled as loud as she could.

"Hang on! I'm getting us outta here!" Malachite shouted, ignoring Lapis.

Malachite spun her axe above her head until it was spinning fast enough to resemble a helicopter's rotors. She then charged at the gem-powered machine, slaming into it spinning axe first. She then angled upward and drove the machine into the ceiling. And then through the ceiling. Up and up the went, until the smashed through the floor of a large room.

" 'Gasp' Malachite!" came Pearl's voice.

Malachite noticed the other gems running into the room.

"Figures. Only you could cause so much havoc that it shakes the whole spire." Peridot A said.

"Nice to see you again too, brainiac. Here, take them." Malachite said and handed Peridot and Lapis over to the group.

"Time to finish up."

Malachite spin-dashed all around the room, driving her axe into the machine everytime she got near it. Finally, she came to a stop in front of the reeling machine. She bent down and simply but gently plucked the gem from the machine.

"There we go. You were quite a lot of trouble, missy. Hey! Somebody wanna come bubble her? i don't think my bubbles will go back to this world's temple."

"Yeah, I got it." Amethyst said and walked over.

Amethyst bubbled the gem and then Malachite started to split up.

"No! Not yet!" Malachite said, clamping her hands to the sides of her head, trying to hold herself together.

"Oh no! Here we go again! Brace yourselves!" Peridot A shouted.

"No, it's okay, Peri. I'm still in control. There's just one last thing I gotta do before I go." Malachite said and turned to Lapis.

The fusion walked over to the cowering blue gem and knelt down.

"Well, what are you gonna do now, Lapis? Come on. Open invitation. Take your best shot. I know you want to."

Lapis screamed and called up water fists that she used to punch Malachite repeatedly in the stomach. Malachite did not retaliate nor try to block. She just took all the anger Lapis could dish out. After a few minutes, Lapis stopped punching and sunk to the floor, sobbing.

"I hate you! You're everything that's wrong with me! All the twisted edges, all the scars! It's all you!" Lapis yelled as main Peridot walked up and patted her on the back consolingly.

"Well, actually, I'm both the good and bad of my world's Lapis and Jasper. I admit, I get a bit rowdy sometimes. And I'm hot tempered. And I love a good fight. I get all of that from Lapis and Jasper's flaws. But, I also get their kind hearts, their brave souls and, from Jasper in particular, the ability to read faces and body language. I could tell by the way you looked at me, you wanted nothing more than to knock me around. That's why I let you. To help you deal with all that crap you got weighing you down. I wanted to help you 'face your demons'. Especially since your demon is a version of me. So, come on. If you feel like you've got more left in you, just keep hitting. I can take it and we can be here all day if you need it."

"Whoa, Malachite. I'm honestly impressed." Peridot A said.

"Silence from the peanut gallery. I'm trying to have a moment here." Malachite said jokingly.

She then turned back to Lapis.

"So, what do you say, little blue? You need to do some more?"

Lapis stood up and walked over to Malachite. She punched the fusions thigh a few times before breaking into an odd laugh.

"You really are different. Totally different. You're something else."

"Sweet heart, I'm the best." Malachite joked.

"Thank you, Malachite. I needed that. Now, can I see those two again?"

"Sure. See ya'll later!" Malachite called before seperating into Lapis A and Jasper A.

Main Lapis ran up and hugged both gems.

"Thank you! Both of you."

"Not a problem, sis." Lapis A said.

"What are friends for?" Jasper A said.

Lapis nodded and then backed away.

"Okay. Let's go get that data. Zircon won't stop herself."


	12. Chapter 12

After extracting every piece of data that even included the word zircon, Peridot A turned to the others.

"Alright, gang. I'll send this to my robonoid and have it cross reference it all to find anything revelant to our cause. But, I really don't feel like dealing with any more traps or monsters in the meantime, so let's go back outside while I do this upload."

"No arguement here. Let's go everybody." Pearl said.

The gang soon made their way back outside.

"I think we'll have to postpone making this our private oasis until we can give it a thorough examnation. Wouldn't want to run into anymore corruptions or traps." Pearl said.

"Yeah. I guess so. Still, once we get it all cleared out, should be a pretty cool hangout spot." Amethyst said.

"Agreed." Garnet said simply.

"Well, everyone, it'll take a few moments to upload the data. After that, I suggest we return to the temple for some R and R until the robonoid finds something else. So, if there's anything you'd like to do while we're still here, I'd suggest doing it now." Peridot A said.

"Hey, yeah. I got an idea. Hey, Peri A." Amethyst called.

"Yes?"

"You're limb things still work when you're fused, right? Like for doing uploads and stuff?"

"Yes, why?"

"Well, we never tried to find out what Fluorite's weapon was."

"Oh, you're right! Hmm, a combination of your whip and my limb enhancers...well, no use pondering. Let's find out the old fashioned way."

"Yay! Giant woman!" Steven A shouted, excited by Fluorite's eminent return.

"Well, this should be intriguing." Main Peridot said, trying to mask her excitement.

"Say, Lapis A?" Main Steven asked as he approached the blue gem.

"Yeah?"

"I'd like to see what Fluorite can do, but it'll probably take a while. So, in the meantime, um, I was wondering if you could use your mirror powers on the water here?"

"Oh, sure. And I know exactly what you want me to do. So, my alternate cutie pie, what do you want to see first from the old memory banks?" Lapis A said with a cheesy grin.

"Hold on! Connie! Magic movie!"

"Just a second." Connie called, glancing at main Lapis who was just staring off into the distance.

Connie then noticed Jasper A looking at her too. Jasper A noticed Connie's look and, with a quick glance back to main Lapis, she nodded. Connie did as well and she and Jasper approached main Lapis.

"Lapis?" Connie called as they got within ear shot.

"Oh, Connie. Hey, what's up?"

"Um, are you okay? You're kinda just staring off into space."

"Oh, sorry to worry you. I was just thinking about stuff."

"Malachite stuff?" Jasper A asked.

"Kind of. I was thinking about what she said. What you said, Jasper. I could tell that was coming from your side mostly. And, you were right. I do need to move on. It's just hard."

"Growing is always a difficult process. But, in the end, it's worth it because it makes you stronger." Connie said.

"Yeah. And I've got a lot of catching up to do if I wanna live up to my alternate."

"No need to do that. You don't have to be an exact copy of Lapis. Just, do what feels right for you." Jasper A said.

"Yeah, I know. But, if I don't put at least some effort into it, somebody will call me a super powered child again." Lapis said, glancing at Connie.

"Hey, gotta keep my fellow crystal temp in line." Connie said jokingly.

"Huh?" Jasper A asked.

Connie quickly explained the situation to Jasper A.

"Oh! Yeah, that happened in our world too, only with Pearl, Amethyst and their pet winter squash slash dog thing they call Winter. But, wait a sec. You said your Peridot was lifting cars during this little adventure. But, just earlier, I picked up some of Lap's memories and I remember you telling her that she could barely lift eight pounds of metal. Cars are alot more than eight pounds. What gives?"

"Oh, that's my fault. I was being kind of moody then and I tend to forget things when I'm like that. Yeah, to be fair, Peridot's gotten a whole lot stronger with her metal powers. She's not quite at Peridot A's level, but she's getting there. So, yeah, the eight pounds thing was just me being moody and forgetful." Lapis said with a playful konk to the side of her head.

"Now there's the Lapis i like to see. The dorky joker." Jasper A said.

"Me too. Wish I could see it more often." Connie agreed.

"Well, hopefully, I get a lot better and you'll get to see me like this more often."

"Well, I know that'll take time. So, I'm willing to wait and I'll support you all the way. Least I can do as your teammate." Connie said.

"Teammates? Nah. Not a good term to use to describe us."

"Then, what is a good term?"

"Hmm, how about friends?"

Connie smiled enthusiasticaly and nodded. She was happy to see Lapis making progress already.

Meanwhile, in the Diamonds' universe, the diamonds had just finished telling their 'origin story' to the alternate crystal gems.

"Wow. You know, I believe you but, I just can't wrap my head around this. I mean, in our world, you, Yellow Diamond, want nothing more than to destroy the Earth. Blue's kinda with you, but she wants to preserve as much of 'Pink Diamond's legacy' as she can first. And White, well shoot, nobody's even mentioned you since the war. It's just kind of strange to see you all as you are here, while thinking about what your like back home." Bismuth said.

"Well, all I can say is I apologize for all the trouble my alternate self has caused." Blue Diamond said from the kitchen.

"Trouble? She kidnapped Connie's dad! We had to rush out into space and go to Pink Diamond's zoo to save him. I pretended to be a repair gem while Holly and Carnelian acted like they had captured Connie for the sake of the zoo. And let me tell you, none of us are very good actresses. Thankfully we managed to get Doug outta there. Just had to rough up the skinny Jasper that was left in charge."

"Well, I'm glad it worked out. And again, sorry."

"Hey, what are you doing over there any way?" Carnelian asked.

"Oh, I baking some cookies. I always try to make a batch when we have guests. Makes us seem more inviting and less intimidating. I mean, imagine walking into a house and finding three, twelve feet tall women who all have what humans would call 'super powers'."

"Yeah, kinda know how that feels right now. Um, what flavor are you making? i'm the only one besides Connie who eats, so I'm just wondering."

"This is a two in one batch of both Chocolate chip and Sugar cookies."

"Trust me, you'll like'em. If there's one thing Blue does right, it's baking." White Diamond said.

"I beg your pardon? I do many things right."

"Relax, Bluesy-woosey. I'm just sayin' that baking is one of your talents."

"Man, every time we've seen a diamond, they've been scary. But, you guys are alright. I'm starting to like this world." the other Connie said.

"Well, I hope we make a good impression on you. Show you that even diamonds aren't all bad." White Dimond said.

"Already doing it." The other Connie said with a smile.

"Hey, um, other me?" the diamond's Connie asked suddenly.

"Yeah?"

"Um, what's being half gem like? The closest I ever get is when Steven and I fuse."

"Eh, it's not all it's cracked up to be. I mean, yeah, I'm stronger than normal humans. Faster too. But, other than speed and strength, my powers don't even work right half of the time. I mean, like, take floating for example. I'm just barely able to control that. But, if i get hit with just the slightest stray breeze, I'm all over the place. Last time it went out of control, Holly had to super jump off of a mountain and then use her whip to grab me before i started to float into the troposphere. So, yeah, it's kinda great, and kinda isn't. I guess it just depends on the day."

"Hey, uh, it's gonna get kinda confusing with two Connies around, so why don't we split'em? We'll call our Connie 'Connie Quartz' and your Connie 'Connie D', for diamond Connie." Carnelian suggested.

"Works for us." Yellow Diamond said, looking out the window.

"Is there something wrong, my diamond?" Yellow Pearl questioned.

"Pearl." Yellow Diamond scolded.

"I know, I know. Now, come on, tell me. What's bothering you? I know that look on your face."

"Well, you remember the data Peridot uncovered? About the Zirconium ships?"

"Yes. I read through it."

"Do you recall what the data said about the ships accelerators?"

"Um...oh! Yes. They're specialized accelerators cause a significant atmospheric disturbance when approaching a planet's surface. It's supposed to look like a sudden darkening of the sky, as if it's about to rain. Um, why do you ask?"

"The forcast called for a clear, cloudless day. And, up until now, it was right. But, look outside now."

Yellow Pearl looked outside. The sky had darkened in the general area around beach city. Towards the horizon, it looked as the forcast had predicted. But, over their town, it was dark.

"Oh my stars."

"Exactly. They're coming." Yellow Diamond said.

"The homeworld gems?" Holly-Blue asked.

"Yes. I'm sorry, everyone. It appears you arrived here just in time for a fight."

"Don't worry, Yellow D. We got your back." Carnelian assured.

Then Yellow Diamond saw them. Two medium sized homeworld ship. The diamond's pupils dialated as she saw what they had on them.

"Homeworld ships! And they've got quartzine quartets mounted on their exteriors! Diamonds! Bubble the house! Now!"

The three diamonds quickly formed a circle and projected a tri-colored bubble around the house. And just in time. The ships opened fire just as the bubble materialized.

"We'll hold up the bubble until they stop firing! Pearls, return fire!" Yellow shouted.

"Yes, ma'am!" the pearls simultaneously shouted and produced their spears.

They all went outside the house and, stepping just outside the bubble, they began bombarding the ship with energy arrows from their spears. They managed to destroy some of the lazer cannons, which lightened the burden on the diamonds. This breather was short lived, however, because the ships started to drop off quartz soldiers of various types all over the beach. The Pearls continued to attack until they destroyed the remaining cannons, then Pink Pearl turned to shout back at the house.

"We've got company out here! A lot of company!"

The bubbled dispersed and the diamonds emerged from the house.

"That's a lot of bad guys." Steven said.

"Yes, it is." Yellow Diamond said as everyone fromed up around her. "Which is why you are leaving, right now. Pink Pearl."

"Yes, ma'am." Pink Pearl said, knowing what Yellow Diamond was implying.

Pink Pearl scooped up Steven and this world's Connie.

"Wha?! No! Coral! Put us down!" Steven yelled.

"Sorry, Steven. Orders are orders."

"Take her with you too." Bismuth said, picking up her Connie and putting her on Pink Pearl's shoulders.

"Bismuth!" Connie Quartz called.

"Take them out of here! Now!" Bismuth shouted, while forming her hands into axes.

Pink Pearl performed a super jump and leaped out of the area. The kids looked back to see their respective gems drawing their weapons. A rapier like sword for Yellow Diamond, a bow for Blue, and a halbred for White. Holly-blue drew out her whip and Carnelian drew out twin tonfa.

"I'm sorry it turned out this way." Yellow Diamond said.

"Hey, no worries. This is an unfortunate coincedence. Nothing more." Bismuth said.

"Besides, we're always down for bashing some homeworlders." Carnelian said.

Meanwhile, Pink Pearl had gotten the kids a good hundred yards away with some well timed super jumps.

"Coral! Let us go! Now!" Steven shouted.

"Yes, my diamond." Pink Diamond said quickly.

Pink Pearl set the the kids down.

"Okay, no more my diamond stuff."

"Sorry. It just slipped out because whole situation reminded me of a battle a long time ago. Your mother had been badly beaten up from an enemy bombardment. Your aunt Yellow had me use all my strength to drag her away. But, just like you, she wanted to get right back in it and fight alongside her family. That was one of the few times since we had all adopted the 'no my diamond' rule that your mother ever ordered me around."

"I understand. Just not again. Now come on. Let's get back there."

"No, Steven, I can't. I have my orders and my own wishes. I have to keep you away from that."

Steven summoned his sheild, which was pink, diamond shaped and bearing a symbol that looked like a triangle made of helixes on it's middle.

"Coral, I really don't want to, but I'll fight you if I have to. I have to go back! They're my family. They're all I've got besides dad. I can't let them do this alone. Even if they are stronger than me, even if they are bigger than me, I still need to do this."

"And so do I. Yellow Diamond is my teacher and the others are my friends. Plus, if something goes wrong, the fight could spill into the city. My mom and dad are home right now and my house is only thirty minutes away. I gotta help keep this away from them and the town." Connie D said, sliding up next to Steven and pointing the pink diamond sword she carried at Pink Pearl.

"And don't even think I won't fight for Bismuth, Holly and Carnelian." Connie Quartz said, producing a rose quartz sheild and lining up next to her interdimensional twin.

"Please, Coral. Don't make us play the numbers against you." Steven said, his eyes tearing up.

"Hmph. Guess I'm out voted."

"You mean?" Connie D asked.

"Well, it's not like you're gonna give me a choice. So yes, we're going back. Yellow Diamond will just have to be mad. But first, Steven?"

"Yeah, Coral?"

Pink Pearl knelt down and hugged her Steven. Then she gave him a kiss on the forehead before looking into his eyes.

"Your mother would be so proud of you right now if she was here. I know I am. There's no doubt. You're a true diamond. A true crystal gem. Now, like your song says, let's go save the day!"

"Yeah! Hang on, guys! We're coming!"


	13. Chapter 13

"Dang, these suckers are tougher than the ones back home!" Carnelian yelled as she backed up against Holly-blue's back.

"Naturally. They fight the diamonds. They'd have to made tougher than normal."

"Raaah!" Shouted the nearby Bismuth as she slammed both of her fists, shape shifted into hammer shapes, into the sides of an Amethyst's head.

"They still poof if you hit them hard enough. So hit them harder!" Bismuth yelled to her team mates as Yellow Pearl ran in to bubble to recently defeated gem.

"Yes ma'am!" Carnelian yelled and unleashed a spin dash into the stomach of a jasper at maximum force.

The impact sent the gem flying into the side of a hill, where she finally poofed.

Holly, meanwhile, had managed to wrap her whip around the arm of a nepherite and used her like the ball on the end of a mace to smash several quartz soldiers. She finally broke the connection and let the nepherite fly into the side of the house where she poofed. White and Blue Pearl ran around bubbling all these gems.

"We're holding our own but there's still so many of them." Blue Diamond said.

"We could always fuse into light green diamond." White Diamond suggested.

"You know full well that she's unstable. So is regular green, light yellow and light blue diamonds. They'd just make a bigger mess of things. Let's face it. We just can't form a proper fusion without Pink." Blue said, her eyes lowering sadly.

"Remind me again why we don't try to fuse with Steven." White said as she smacked a fusion of several rubies away with her halbred.

"We don't know if he could handle it. One of us at a time, probably. Two, maybe. But all three? I don't know if Steven could handle merging with that much power." Yellow Diamond said as she slashed several Amethysts with her sword and poofed them.

Yellow Pearl again ran in and bubbled the gems.

" 'Phew' We're gonna be at this all day." Bismuth said as she threw two quartzs into the crowd.

"Boy, it's been a while since we were in a fight this big." Carnelian said.

"I'm glad we sent Connie away from this." Holly said.

Just then, Blue Diamond noticed another disturbance in the sky.

"Oh no! Look!"

Just then, two hand ships arrived.

"Oh you have got to be kidding me. What is this? Smash the diamonds day?" White shouted.

Then, the two ships formed into their firing configuartion.

"They're getting ready to fire! Everyone, circle up and bubble!" Yellow called.

All nine gems formed a circle and fed their energy into a combined bubble. Just then, the the main cannons of the ship fired. The bubble held strong, but vibrated all over from the impact of the beams.

"Urg! Think we can hold this long enough for them to drain their batteries?" Carnelian asked.

"Not likely. We know from experience that the zirconium council has upgraded these in terms of their energy output. We'll get tired long before they give up firing." Yellow Diamond said.

"Blue, Pearls. Think you can shoot them with your arrows and break their guns?" White Diamond asked.

"It's taking all my concentration to keep my part of the bubble going." Blue Diamond said.

"Same here." Said Yellow Pearl.

"Ditto." White Pearl added.

"So, short version, no. We can't shoot their guns." Blue Pearl said.

"Why are they trying so hard anyway?!" Bismuth yelled.

"Homeworld must really be hurting for resources. So, they're determined to get rid of us once and for all so they can finally conquer this planet." Yellow Pearl said.

"Over my shattered gem they will!" Blue Diamond said.

"I think that might be the idea. Look! The gems coming out of the hand ships have breaking points." White Pearl pointed out.

"Breaking points?!" Bismuth said, shocked.

"I take it you know what those are." Blue Pearl said.

"I made one in our world. Back during the war. Our Rose Quartz convinced me to destroy it. She said it would make us no better than homeworld if we went around shattering our enemies left and right. We had to be the bigger gems, she said."

"Your Rose Quartz was a wise gem. Our development teams wanted to create similar weapons before the war here, but Pink immeadiately shot it down. She hated the idea of shattering." Yellow Diamond said.

"Clearly the zircons don't." Holly-blue said.

"Well, this completely sucks. We're pinned down and the bad guys have got weapons that can take us out in one hit!" Carnelian yelled.

"Bismuth, Carnelian, I...I just want you to know that...I regret nothing. I'm glad I've been a crystal gem all these years. And I'm proud to have had you as my sisters-in-arms." Holly-Blue said.

"Same here, Holly." Bismuth said.

"Hey, don't go gettin' sappy on me." Carnelian said, trying to mask her emotions.

"Blue, I wanna apologize for all the pranks I pulled on you." White Diamond said.

"Nothing to fret over, White. Truth be told, though they were annoying at the time, now they are fond memories of playful times between sisters."

"I love you, Blue."

"I love you too, White."

"And I love both of you. And the Pearls too. Thank you all for all you have done for us." Yellow Diamond said.

"It's been a pleasure, ma'am." Yellow Pearl said and the others nodded.

"Hey, you know what? I say, we're going down anyway, let's g down fighting. Let's go out in a blaze of glory. On the count of three, drop the bubble and fight till you shatter!" White diamond shouted.

"I can't think of anything better, so let's do it!" Yellow Diamond yelled.

"Count us down, our fellow crystals." Blue Diamond said.

"I wish we had more time to get to know you all. But it's been fun while lasted. So, now, One!" Bismuth yelled.

"Two!" Holly-Blue shouted while digging in her heels.

"Thre..." Carnelian started when they all heard a voice shouting.

"Banzai!" came the voice.

Three figures dropped out of the sky and the tallest one used it's sword to slash open a hole in one of the hand ships. The three then entered the ship through the hole. Moments later, the ship veered off to one side and crashed into the other ship. The ships slammed into the ground before one ship exploded and took the other ship with it. As all the homeworld forces stared in shock, multiple bubbles began to appear amoungst the rubble. They all had gems from those still on the ships inside them. And all the bubbles were pink.

"Please tell me you all weren't about to make a last stand. Oldest cliche in the book." Came a voice.

"Is that..." Blue Diamond started.

The three figures emerged from the wreckage.

"Pink!" The pearls shouted as they caught sight of their sister.

'"Connie!" The other crystal gems called as they saw their adopted niece.

"You guys really need to learn. The crystal gems ain't much without all of us. All four pearls, and all four diamonds." The tall figure said.

"I should be mad at you, but right now, I'm very happy to see you, Stevonnie." Yellow Diamond said, as they she led the others in dropping the bubble.

Stevonnie hoisted her half-mother's sword onto her shoulder.

"What would you do without me?"

"Um, let's not think about that." White Diamond said.

"That pose...she's the spitting image of Pink." Blue Diamond said.

"Hey!" The group heard a voice yell.

They turned to see a a large fusion made of several rubies wading through the crowd of homeworlders.

"Just who are you supposed to be, huh?" The ruby fusion asked, getting in Stevonnie's face.

"What? Don't you recognize my gem?" Stevonnie said, pointing to where her navel should have been.

" 'Gasp' It's the shatterer! It's Pink Diamond!"

"Well, you're partially right. Now, since I'm pretty sure I just took out any other gems who could've taken the role, i guess you're the acting leader of this invasion, huh?"

"Uh, yeah, I guess."

"Good. You're first!"

Stevonnie leaped up and brought her sword down on the ruby fusion's head. The impact caused her to seperate into five individual rubies, who Stevonnie made quick work of.

"Next?" Stevonnie asked as Pink Pearl bubbled the rubies.

"Get her!" The crowd yelled.

Connie Quartz summoned her sheild and threw it into the crowd. It ricocheted off of many homeworlders, before Pink Pearl fired a powerful blast into the crowd. The resulting explosion poofed many nearby homeworlders and divided the crowd into three sections.

"We could use some assistance." Pink Pearl said, glancing back to her fellow crystal gems.

"And you've got it. Pearls, take the ones on the right. Other crystals, the one's on the left are yours. We'll take the uglies in the back. Now let's kick butt!" White Diamond shouted.

Three teams formed up and charged their opponents. Connie Quartz quickly got to work and used her sheild to toss Carnelian high into the air. Carnelian came crashing down into a group of homeworlders with her spin dash. Left dazed, they were wide open for Holly-Blue to use an extended version of her whip to tie them up before electrocuting them ino poofing. Bismuth, meanwhile, hand one hand turned into an axe and the other a hammer. She stretched out her arms so she could strike as any homeworlders as she could at once.

While the other crystals continued on this way, the pearls unleashed a bombardment with their spears to decimate many of their enemies. They then decided to up the shock and awe value by fusing into a titan of a pearl.

"Primary Pearl!" The fusion shouted it's name.

The light blue, light pink and light yellow fusion called forth her four pronged spear and unleashed a bolt of energy that looked like lightning upon the homeworlders. As they all poofed, the pearls all seperated.

"Why didn't we do that earlier?" White Pearl asked.

"Because Yellow Diamond wanted to destroy the ships before they could get close enough to drop off soliders. And, while that attack is powerful, it's downside is a short range. Our individual blasts are better for long range offense against incoming ships." Yellow Pearl said.

"Speaking of those ships, we should probably make sure the homeworlders can't use them against us." Blue Pearl said.

"Right, we most definately should. So, ladies, follow my lead." Pink Pearl said as she headed towards the two ships that had arrived first.

The Diamonds and Stevonnie meanwhile, were wading through their crop of enemies. Slashes from Yellow and Stevonnie were matched by shots from Blue and wide swings from White.

"Excellent form, Stevonnie. I'm very proud of you." Yellow Diamond said.

"Thanks, Yellow. Oh, Heads up!" Stevonnie shouted as she summoned and threw her sheild at a jasper fusion coming up behind Yellow.

Seizing on the distraction, Yellow turned and sliced the fusion into proverbial ribbons. This caused all the gems involved to poof.

"Yellow, you need to admit that you made a mistake sending Steven and Connie away." White said as she used her halbred to send several homeworlders flying.

"Yes, I definately did. But, you went along with it."

"Well of course I did. Steven's my beloved nephew and Connie's my friend. What good of an aunt or friend would I be if i didn't want them to be safe."

"So, you're just as guilty as I am."

"No, I'm not. Cause you're the acting leader. This is on your head."

"Hey, can we kick bad guy butt first and argue later?" Stevonnie said.

"Stevonnie's right. This isn't the time to bicker. What's important is that we're a family and we will end this as such. Stevonnie, I believe your Steven side knows what I'm talking about." Blue said.

"Oh, yes! Yes, he does! But, I thought you said the name was silly."

"I do. I don't see the point in naming attacks like in your cartoon shows. But, right now, it would make a statement. And that statement is, White?"

"Don't mess with Earth!"

"Exactly. Now then, let's finish this."

"Diamonds, charge up!" Stevonnie yelled excitedly.

The four charged their weapons with energy from their gems.

"Okay, now!" Yellow Diamond shouted when the charge was complete.

"Quadruple Diamond Dynamic!" Stevonnie shouted as the four unleashed an enormous blast of their combined energy.

The blast instantly poofed all the remaining homeworld gems.

"We have got to do that more often!" Stevonnie yelled.

"Heck yeah! We should've used that on those first two ships!" White agreed.

"It's nice and flashy, but it takes too long to charge up. Plus, it's only a mid-range attack at best. Great for clearing the field in ground skirmishes like this, but lousy when dealing with fast, incoming ships. If only we could extend it's range..." Yellow said.

"And drop the silly name." Blue added.

"Holy Smokes! That was crazy!" Bismuth said as she led her team over to the diamonds.

"Wow. Just wow." Carnelian said.

"I really hope the diamonds back home don't know how to do that." Holly-Blue said.

"It was all our Steven's idea. So, since your diamonds don't have a Steven, I'd say they don't know how to do that." White Diamond said.

"Are you done on your end?" Yellow Diamond asked.

"Yes, ma'am. We just got done a few minutes ago." Connie Quartz said.

Steven and Connie D seperated and then walked up next to Connie Quartz.

"Now then, what do you all have to say?" Steven asked.

" 'sigh' We're sorry for sending you off like that." Yellow Diamond said.

"But you know why we did it, right?" Bismuth asked.

"Of course. And the feeling's mutual. We love you guys too. That's why we came back." Connie Quartz said while her diamond universe twin nodded in agreement.

Just then, there was a large explosion. The group turned to see the pearls walking away from the wreckage of the two ships that started all of this.

"What? We were tying up loose ends." Pink Pearl said.

"Well, good job, then." Yellow Diamond said.

"We'll hurry up and bubble the remaining gems." Blue Pearl said.

"Right. And while you do that, I'll go check on those cookies. I hope they didn't burn." Blue said, and led the other diamonds back towards the house.

"Wow, back to normal so fast." Connie Quartz said.

"That's my aunts for you."


	14. Chapter 14

"This is is Lapis, here forever. And I'll never lose twice to likes of you, because I know I'm better. And every part of me is screaming go get her. A gem like me will never follow your rules, so come at me without any of your fancy tools. Let's go, just me and you. Let's go, just one on two." Lapis A said as she used her mirror powers to show main Steven her fight with the alternate Garnet.

"Go ahead and try to hit me if you're able, can't you see that my power is more stable? I can see you hate the way I am so nimble, but i think you're just mad cause I'm a symbol. And you will never stop what we've made together. We are gonna stay right here forever. And if you break me apart, I'll just come back newer. And I'll always be twice the gem that you are. I am powered by-y-y love, lo-o-o-ove. Looooove."

"Cool! Garnet, can you see this?" Main Steven asked as her turned to his surrogate mother.

"I can. It's a good fight so far."

Lapis continued on until her memory showed her laying on the floor of the hand ship, but only after she and the alternate Garnet had smashed through the upper floor. Lapis began to sing again as her memory self pushed herself up.

"This is who I am. It's who I choose to be. And if you think you can stop me, better think again buddy. Cause although I'm not strongest gem in history, if you try to hurt my family, I will bring you to your knees. So go ahead and try to hit me if you're able. Can't you see that my power is more stable? I know you think I'm not something you're afraid of, cause you think that you've seen what I'm made of. But I am so more than my two friends. And everything they care about's what I defend. I am their fury, I am their patience, I am unification. I am powered by-y-y-y love. Lo-o-o-ove. Looooove. And I'm stronger than you!" Lapis A sang as her memory self threw the alternate Garnet into the ships power core.

"Ow. That looked like it hurt." Main Steven said.

"You should've seen Jasper's face when I did that to her." Garnet remarked.

At this point, Lapis A's memory had reach the part where she had rejoined the group on the bridge.

"Lapis!" Lapis A said in an odd voice that was her best imitation of the others speaking as one.

"This ship's going down! We've gotta get outta here!" Lapis A said in her normal tone.

"But what about Amethyst?" Lapis A said, imitatting her Steven from the memory.

"There's no time! Brace yourselves!"

"Everyone huddle up around me!" Lapis A said, imitating her Steven again.

Main Steven, remembering how the rest of this scene played out in his world, tapped on Lapis A's shoulder.

"That's enough, L.A. I know how this ends. It's not pretty." Steven said, glancing at his Lapis.

Catching his look, main Lapis put on an apologetic face.

"Sorry, Steven. I wasn't thinking clearly back then. Oh, I can still see your face from that moment. And I hate myself for it." Lapis said sadly, her hand covering her face.

Suddenly, a torrent of water shot out of the ocean and knocked main Lapis over.

"Do I have to get Malachite back out here?" Lapis A asked as she reeled the water back in.

"No, no. Point taken. Let's just move on."

"Hee-yah!" Came Fluorite's voice.

Everyone looked to the cross-world fusion. She was playing with her newly discovered weapons.

"Freakin' sweet! My weapons are nunchucks!"

Fluorite proceeded to perform every move involving nunchucks that Amethyst had ever seen, while making all sorts stereotypical kung-fu noises.

"I don't even know what else these things can do, but I'm having a blast as is."

"Hey Hey! Let's see how strong they are! Smash that big rock right there!" Steven A shouted.

"Ooookay! Woo-pah!"

With one swing, Fluorite smashed the rock into pieces.

"Booyah! Take that ya stupid rock!"

"Hey, I've seen nunchucks get spun around and turned into shields. So, um, Lapis', shoot water at her!" Main Steven shouted.

"One drenched fusion..." Lapis A started.

"Comin' right up!" Main Lapis finished.

The two water masters shot torrents of water at Fluortie, who immeadiately started spinning her nunchucks to create shields.

" 'Yawn' is that all you've got?"

The Lapis' nodded to each other and increased the strength of their individual streams. Then, they combined them into a spiraling blast of water. This blast caught Fluorite off guard and, though she was able to block it, she was being pushed back.

"Okay! Admittedly, I asked for this. But, I know I can still beat it!"

"I'd love to see how." Main Lapis said with a smirk.

"Oh, I'll show you how!"

Fluorite stuck one nunchuck out behind her and spun it while charging it with a green and purple energy. Once it was fully charged in Fluorite's mind, she flung towards the Lapis'. It exploded a few seconds after it hit the ground, at which time the Lapis' to jump out of the way.

"Okay, admittedly, I've never seen exploding nunchucks before." Main Steven said with a look of shock on his face.

At this point, Fluorite fell over laughing. Losing focus due to her laughing fit, she seperated into Amethyst and Peridot A.

"Aha-ha-ha! Oh that was awesome!"Amethyst laughed.

"The looks! The looks on their faces when it exploded! Priceless." Peridot A chuckled out.

"Hey, are you're fingers okay?" Amethyst asked.

"Just fine. Like I said, tougher than normal." PeridotA said, proudly holding up her hand.

"Dang. Survived exploding like that,huh? Well, guess Bismuth really worked a wonder there."

"Yes, she did. It's too bad, really. She made so many great things like these, and then she goes down hill and makes the breaking point. You know, while I wish she hadn't kept it a secret from us, maybe it was a good thing in the long run that Rose poofed and bubbled her. Because the state of mind she was in at the time could've led to corruption. And, as strong a gem as Bismuth was, I really wouldn't want to face that."

"Yeah, agreed. So, what do we do now?"

"Well, we've still got time before the upload is done. I suggest we go back to the temple and relax for a while. After all, we'll need all our strength plus any extra we can earn if we're going to be dealing with Zircon."

"Will going through the warp bother it?" Garnet asked.

"Only a minor delay. A few seconds at worst."

"Well, alright. Let's go then." Pearl said.

The group boarded the warp pad and were soon wisked away to the temple.

"Well, that was certainly something else." Main Lapis said as they got off the warp pad.

"Favorite part?" Jasper A asked the blue gem.

"Honestly? Getting to punch Malachite. That was really, what's the word, um, oh, cathartic."

"Yeah, I kinda thought it would be. And, hey, if you feel like you need to whoop on a Jasper specifically, just remember I'm a tough gem."

"Thanks, Jasper A. But, I think I'll be okay for now. Besides, it wouldn't be fair to keep beating you up for what your twin did here. That would be like beating up Lapis A for everything wrong that I've ever done. And considering all that I've done, that would be quite the beating. I wouldn't wish that on her, so, you know..."

"Yeah, I getcha. So, we cool? We all buddy buddy?"

"Well, close enough, I guess. I'm still having a time with looking at you and not seeing her. But, I think I should be able to get along with you just fine. Just gotta remind myself of what Peridot said. You might look like her, but you aren't her. Not exactly, anyway."

"Good enough for me."

"Oh, and before I forget. Peridot?" Main Lapis said, looking at main Peridot.

"Yes?"

"Thanks. You know, for defending me back at the spire. You were pretty impressive. So, thanks, Peri."

"No problem. What are friends for? Anytime you need help, all you gotta do is ask."

"Same here."

"Um, would it be okay to ask for a hug? Steven's told me that friends are supposed to hug in moments like this."

"Heh. Yeah, sure. Come here."

Main Lapis wrapped her arms around main Peridot as she got close. Peridot returned the gesture.

"Thanks again, Peri. I mean it."

"Like I said, not a problem."

"Heh heh." Amethyst chuckled.

"What's so funny, Amethyst?" Main Peridot questioned.

"You two didn't feel it?"

"Feel what?" Main Lapis asked.

"Your gems, they were glowing while you were hugging." Lapis A said.

"They were?" Main Peridot asked she touched her gem.

"You know what that means." Lapis A said.

"We were...in sync?" Main Peridot asked, glancing at Garnet.

"Considering the brightness of the glow from of each of you, I'd say it was a fairly strong level of syncronization." Garnet clarified.

"A few more seconds and we might've gotten to see what our version of Turquoise looks like." Amethyst said.

"I, I see." Peridot said, blushing and glancing at Lapis.

"Um, anyway, what should we do now?" Main Lapis asked, noticing Peridot's look and blushing herself.

"Don't try to change the subject." Pearl said.

"Hey, that's between me and Peri. If we ever do that, we'll let you know. Now, what are we doing next?"

"Hmm, well, I think a nice stroll through town would be relaxing." Lapis A suggested.

"Hey, why don't we go to funland?" Steven A chimed in.

"Hey, yeah, that would be good." Main Steven agreed.

"Looks like you're out voted, Lapis A." Garnet said.

"Not a problem. Steven knows his blue mama would change any plan for him."

"Blue mama?" Pearl asked.

"Yeah. See, occasionally, we'd check in with Steven and Greg while Steven was little. We'd even babysit and perform some 'mom duties' every now and then. I mean, Greg did most of the work raising Steven, but we made sure Steven knew who we were and that we cared about him. As a result, when Steven was very young, he called all of us mama. I was blue mama, Peri was green mama, and Jaz was big mama, since Steven had a hard time saying orange."

" 'Sigh' You know, I kind of miss being green mama. I miss the little Steven coming up to me after he'd skinned his knee or something and saying something like 'green mama, I got an owie. Can you kiss it and make it better?' I knew there was no way a kiss from me would heal it, but I always humored him. And that did seem to make him feel better. 'sigh' Good times. But, he's not like that anymore. He's still my baby, he always will be, but, I have to acknowledge how much he's grown."

"I still love you just as much, Peridot. I'm just too old to being saying stuff like that." Steven A said.

"I know, Steven. I just miss it. I guess every mother has moments like this."

"Yeah, I guess. So, is everyone ready to go?"

"Yes. Let's go." Pearl said.

The group headed out and chatted about barious things as they walked. Amethyst's preferred topic seemed to be picking at main Lapis and Peridot for the glowing incedent earlier.

"Alright, Amethyst, enough." Said an exasperated Lapis.

"Come on. You gotta see how it's kinda funny. I mean, the two fusion-phobes coming this close to accidentally fusing?"

"Okay, yes, I can see the humor in that. But, please, stop already. Forming our world's version of Turquoise is a personal matter between us. Especially for me. So, could you have a little respect and butt out for now?"

"Sure thing. I wouldn't want to be picked at too much about fusion I'm involved either. I just like joshin' ya. But, I will say this. If you guys get a handle for this, I would be willing to fuse with either of you. But, especially Peri. I mean, come on, exploding nunchucks."

"Heh, yeah, that was kinda cool."

"She isn't the only one, Lapis. Garnet and I are willing to fuse with you too." Pearl said.

"But, first, we have to clear the air between us. Don't think we've forgotten about all that you've done, nor have we forgotten about the mirror. We have a lot to talk about and clear up. But, let's put that on the back burner, at least until we've dealt with Zircon." Garnet said.

"Um, okay. Sure."

"That reminds me. We need to have a sit down with our Amethyst when we get home. Peri, make a note of that, would you?" Lapis A said.

"On it."

"You know, I think we should ask our Pearl if she'd like to be poofed so she can reform into her crystal gem form. I think a good squeeze from me would be enough." Jasper added.

"I understand your thinking, Jasper, but how exactly would we phrase that to her? 'Hey, you've been a member of our team for a while now, but you're still in your homeworld form. So, would you like us to poof you so you can regen into a crystal gem form?'" Peridot A said.

"Yeah, that does sound kinda dumb when you put it that way. Still, something to think about."

"Truth be told, I've thought about that for our Peri too." Amethyst said.

"You what?!" Main Peridot yelled.

"I honestly thought it would've happened by now. But, apparently, Peridot wasn't kidding when she said peridots are tougher than they look." Pearl said.

"We know I'm strong enough to poof her by squeezing her. So, Peridot, what do you say?" Garnet asked.

Peridot immeadiately ran behind Steven and Connie.

"Steven, Connie, form Stevonnie and save me from my lunatic commrades!"

"Come on, Peri. You know they wouldn't do anything to hurt you. They just want you to feel like part of the team and get your crystal gem form." Steven said.

"Steven...not you too. Lapis! Connie! Help!"

"Remember, Peri. We're honorary crystal gems too." Lapis said with a mischevious smile while Connie nodded along with her.

Peridot panicked and ran on ahead, screaming.

"Peridot! Come back! We were all just joking!" Steven yelled.

"My teammates are trying to kill me!"

"Ha ha. This world gets more entertaining all the time." Steven A said and the alternate gems agreed.


	15. Chapter 15

The rest of the night went on without a problem. Pearl made sure the kids went to bed and then went to talk to Peridot A. Garnet, meanwhile, had agreed to a sparring match with Jasper A down on the beach. Amethyst was discussing possible formations of Fluorite with a blushing main Peridot in her room. Finally, the Lapis' were back up at the top of the temple's head. They were watching the horizon as the sun sank below it.

"Beautiful. No matter what world it's in." Lapis A said as she sat down to enjoy the view.

"Yeah, I can see why you like it." Main Lapis said, sitting down herself.

"Don't act like you don't think it's pretty."

"I will confirm or deny that."

"Pleading the fifth, huh? Heh, whatever."

"So, why'd you call me up here again? Gonna make another sales pitch for joining the crystal gems?"

"Well, I could, but after two pitches and my Red Topaz story, I think I've drove that point home pretty thoroughly. I might still make some pitches before this week's over, but I think I'll give it a rest for now."

"So, what's the deal then?"

"Honestly? I just wanna hang out with you. I mean, we've been together alot since I got here. We've talked alot, been through alot, but we've never just hung out. And, well, we're basically twins. Kinda like Steven's friends, Kiki and Jenny. I know they like being with each other, so I kind of want the same for us. Frankly, i just want you to consider me a friend, Lapis."

"Oh sure. My best friend: myself!" Main Lapis said jokingly.

"Be serious."

"Come on, that was kind of funny."

"Yeah, okay, it was kinda funny. But, let's be serious here."

"Yeah, yeah. I get ya."

"So, I've asked a lot questions about you and your history, but you haven't gotten the chance to ask me anything."

"I've heard you're stories."

"Yeah, but, you must have some questions."

"Hmm, well, I guess I can ask one thing."

"And what's that?"

"Well, you said that Steven used to call you 'blue mama'. You even mentioned that you've been a mother figure for him his whole life the first time we met. You've called him your son. I guess, I'm curious. What's it like? I mean, if I had to give a description of my releationship with my Steven, I would say that it's somewhere between best friends and siblings. But, your link with your Steven is so much more. So, what's it like, being 'blue mama'?

"Well, like I told you before, close your eyes, think of Steven and focus on the feeling that gives you. That happy, warm feeling called love. Now, magnify the intensity of that feeling by about a thousand and you'll be in the ballpark for how I feel. I love that little goof ball. I would gladly face shattering if it meant I could keep him safe. And you know, I started to develop these feelings before he was even born. I remember visiting Rose in her room at our temple while she was still pregnant. I was curious about it. We talked about it, how incredible it was. She even had me lay my head against her belly so I could feel him kick. And while he was kicking, Rose said 'I think someone is saying hi, Lapis. Oh, there he goes again. He must be able to sense what a great gem you are and he can't wait to meet you.' I was so mesmerized by it all that I just said 'I can't wait to meet him too.' Oddly enough though, once Steven was here, I thought, honestly, that he was a fusion. I mean, he looked it. Human body with a rose quartz in the belly? Sure looked fusiony. And, i guess, it kind of is. But, at that time, I couldn't wrap my head around it. I knew what Rose and i had discussed but seeing him there in the flesh was something else. My confusion led me to think Rose had just figured out how to fuse wtih Greg finally. And, again, I guess she kinda did. But, as i looked at him some more, i came to realize exactly what Steven was. He wasn't Rose, he wasn't a fusion, at least not the way we think of it, and he wasn't going to revert back into Rose, so shape shifting was right out. What he was was her son and, since she was like a big sister to me, that made him my nephew. And, since she'd entrusted him to me, Peri and Jaz, along with Greg of course, that kinda made him my adopted son. And I knew, it was my responsibility to keep a careful watch over him. Let him grow up naturally, but always be waiting in the wings. Just in case something happened. I learned there are many types of parents. Peri could be considered a helicopter mom, always hovering around Steven and scared to death of him getting the slightest scratch. Oh sure, she played it cool when she talked about missing being called 'green mama' and the 'owie kisses', but really, she flipped her facets every time he got even the tiniest bruise."

Main Lapis chuckled at the thought of that line.

"Jaz, meanwhile, was more like a big sister, like she said. But, she had her maternal moments. The cutest one was when we were babysitting him once and she was holding him. He was screaming cause he wanted some juice. She gave him a sippy-cup full of grape juice and he gave her the cutest little 'thank you kiss' on her cheek. And you know what? For all of her bravado, Jasper came this close to crying tears of joy at that moment. Her eyes got so misty. She tried so hard to hide it. She was so touched. That moment proved to me that he loved her and she loved him."

"And what about you?"

"I was kind of the opposite of Peri. I was sort of laissez-faire, you know? Leaving him to grow up the way a human kid should. The way Rose wanted him to be. She even said that if he grew up to be a member of the crystal gems, she wanted it to be his choice. I respected that so I kept my meddling to a minimum. Now, don't get me wrong. I would put my foot down and show authority when i had too. And I would definitely keep him away from anything he could hurt himself with. But, if he fell and skinned his knee, I didn't treat it like the end of world like Peri. I dusted him off, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and a band-aid if need be and sent him on his way. Peri, meanwhile, wanted to run full vital scans and diagnostics on him every time. Just in case a tiny amount of dirt got in the wound, she wanted to catch it. 'Prevent infection' she would say. I would laugh at Peri's overprotectiveness, but I knew it came from a good place. She only did it cause she cared. Maybe a little too much, but at least you could say she wasn't short on love for that kid. Hard to believe she wanted to pull out his gem at one point to get Rose back. That's a shameful secret for her and only Jaz and I , and you now of course, know about it. So, don't mention it to Steven, okay?"

"No problem. So, with all your experience basically being one of Steven's moms, I gotta ask you this. You said that if something happened to the crystal gems, Steven would need me and Peridot. We'd have to be his caretakers. But, do you really think I could do it?"

"I ain't gonna lie. In your present state, it would be difficult. But, your love for Steven would help you find the 'rhythm' you'd need. So, yeah, I think you'd manage. Peridot too."

"Um, just in case, do you think you could, you know, give me some pointers?"

"Sure thing. Let's start right now, while the night's still young. Better get comfortable. We have got a lot to talk about."

Meanwhile, Pearl approached Peridot A out on the deck outside the house.

"How's the data referencing coming along?"

"Fairly well. Full transfer to the robonoid finished about an hour ago and it's started the cross-referencing process. That's at fifteen percent as of riiiiiiight...now. At this rate, it should be done by morning."

"Hopefully it finds something. I'd be well pleased if we could end this tomorrow and enjoy the rest of this week in peace."

"As would I, Pearl. Hmm, speaking of this week, can you believe that we've done this much in a day and a half? I mean, we arrived here around midday on monday and we've spent this whole day learning about each other and hunting for Zircon. And we've still got until midday next monday before we go home, I assume. Interdimensional travel isn't an exact science, after all."

"I just hope we're all in one piece by then."

"We will be, Pearl. We will be. After all, We're the crystal gems of TWO worlds, and ELEVEN members strong. Zircon, if she does get free, will taste defeat at our hands. Of that much I am sure."

"But, aren't you at least a little worried?"

"Well, of course I am. Zircon was a threat to even the diamonds. But, we aren't the guardians of our worlds for nothing. We chose to protect this planet with our lives. And we've been at it for thousands of years. Not to toot our own horn but, that kind of dedication gives a certain special power to those who have it. Plus, we have our secret weapons."

"Secret weapons?"

"The Stevens. Those boys have that special quality that their mother had. That inspirational thing that makes you feel stronger. I mean, let's face it, Pearl. You and I, on a strength versus strength scale, shouldn't have been able to defeat Sugilite and Malachite respectively. We should have been poofed. But, not only did we not poof, but Steven's words gave us the ability to summon more power than we even knew we had. Granted, we beat them by outsmarting them and turning their own power against them, but just finding the strength to get back on our feet after the beating we each took was a feat in and of itself. And it was all because our respective Steven believed in us. Now, you put the two of them together and have them believe in all of us..."

"I see what you're getting at. Yes, that would definitely do the trick. I guess I just worry because I know Steven will participate in this battle. I don't want to see my baby get hurt."

"Neither do I, Pearl. As Amethyst said earlier, I'm clearly the 'you' of our group. As such, I care about my Steven as much you care about yours. But, well, you know what they say about desperate times."

"Yes, I know. I guess we'll just have to do our best to keep them out of the thick of it."

"We will, Pearl. We're Steven's mamas after all, and good mamas keep danger away from their babies as much as possible."

"You're right. That alone will make you and I the toughest gems on the field."

"You said it, sister!" Peridot A said, extending a hand.

Pearl grasped it firmly and the two mothers nodded confidentlyto each other. It was then that they became aware of glow around them. They each looked up to see that they're gems were glowing.

"We're in sync." Pearl said simply.

"You know, I have wondered what would happen if I fused with our Pearl. Care to be her stand in?"

"Hmph, as Amethyst would say: Peri, let's mash it up."

After a quick dance, the mothers united into a new fusion. She had amber colored hair, parted to the sides of her head. She bored a visor over four eyes and skin similar to Pearl's but tinged with a slight green hue. Pearl and Peridot A's gems sat vertically on her forhead, Pearl's over Peridot's. Her outfit was a steam-punk inspired, sleaveless tailcoat that was light green in color with a frilly white skirt. Peridot A's limb enhancers had formed thigh high light green boots and long fingerless gloves. Yellow stars sat almost proudly on the knees of the boots and on the fusion's chest. She admired herself for a moment before deciding on a name.

"I am Chrysolite." She said with a confident nod.

"Oh, I should go show the others!"

Chryosolite turned on her heel to go show Jasper A and Garnet, who were the closest to her location. She headed for the beach but stopped as she neared the door to Steven's house. Remembering what had synced Pearl and Peridot A in the first place, she decided to go inside. She quietly climbed the few stairs up to Steven's room, where the kids slumbered on a large inflatable bed Greg had given them incase they had company staff overnight. Connie laid in the middle, between the interdimensional twin boys. Chrysolite smiled fondly down at them.

"Mama loves you, boys." Chrysolite said as she bent over and kissed the boys' foreheads.

"And you too, my pupil." she said softly and kissed Connie's forehead for good measure.

She then turned to leave.

"I'll see you in the morning. Sleep tight."


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning, the kids awoke to the smell of bacon frying.

"Oh that is the best smell ever." Steven A said.

"Nah, the smell of chocolate is the best smell." Main Steven said.

"What about chocolate covered bacon?" Steven A asked.

"Um, I don't know. But I think we can make that happen. Right, Lapis A?" Main Steven called to the kitchen.

Sure enough, the blue gem from another world stood at the stove.

"How'd you know I was the doing the cooking?" Lapis A asked, briefly turning from the frying pan.

"I had a feeling that, since you made breakfast for us yesterday, you'd do it again today."

"She makes me breakfast every morning." Steven A said.

"Wait, what? How come I have to make mine all the time? Where are the gems? I got a bone to pick with them."

"They're all outside. I was too until a little bit ago. I figured you all would be waking up soon, so I decided to start making breakfast now. So, now, I think you three should go outside." Lapis A said.

"Huh? Why? We haven't even showered or changed clothes yet." Connie said.

"Plenty of time for that later. Oh, and by the way, Connie. Your parents called your phone earlier. Garnet answered it since you were still asleep."

"Garnet answered it?" Connie asked with an uneasy look.

"Yeah. She told your mom that you were still asleep, hence why she answered. Your parents wanted you to know that there have been some delays with their business trip, so they won't be back until next tuesday afternoon. Garnet promised to make sure that you did your homework before they got back."

"Oh, okay. Cool. So, I can be here until you all go home."

"That's right. By the way, why are you out of school right now anyway? There's no breaks right now, i don't think."

"Turns out the school's foundation was getting old and worn out. So, they closed the school for safety reasons until the foundation can be fixed. I think they were going to slip some renovations in there too while they were at it."

"Oh, okay then. Now, head outside. We have a surprise for you."

The three kids looked at each other and shrugged. They walked outside, only to be immeadiately jump scared by Amethyst and Jasper A as they jumped down from the roof.

"Good morning, sleepy heads!" Amethyst shouted.

"Ah! Amethyst! Don't do that! You scared the daylights out of us." Main Steven shouted.

"Aw, I'm sowwy, sweetheart! Here, let mama amy give you a hug to make it better!" Amethyst said and shapeshifted into a form that resembled a stereotypical mom from an old sitcom.

"Mama's sorry she scared you, sweetie." Amethyst said, scooping up main Steven in tight hug.

"Ug! Amethyst! Stop! You're embarassing me."

"Well, I am somewhere between big sister and mom for you, so i think that's kinda my job."

A look of realization struck across Jasper A's face and she turned to Steven A with her gem beginning to glow.

"Shapeshift like Amethyst and I'll tell Peridot where you're hiding all her spare bags ot gummy snacks." Steven A said.

"Dang kid. You sure know how to hit a girl where it counts." Jasper said with a defeated tone.

"Oh, you know I don't mean to hurt you, Jaz. I just don't want a repeat of last time. Remember?"

"Last time?" Connie questioned.

"Uh, the last time I pulled a stunt like Amy's doing right now, i got a little too into it and didn't pay attention to how hard I was hugging Steven. I, um, kinda popped his back, like, bad chiropractor style. It didn't hurt him, but it was kind of a loud pop."

"My back felt funny for a week." Steven A added.

"So, yeah. Better off not shapeshifting into 'mama Jaz'."

"Well, Jasper, for what it's worth, I think you're a fine big sister slash psuedo mom for Steven A. It's clear by the fact that you can fuse with him that you care alot about him."

"Could say the same for you, Connie." Jasper said with a grin.

"Heh, yeah, i guess so. So, what's the surprise out here for us?"

"Oh, yeah! I almost forgot." Amethyst said and put Steven down.

She reverted back to her normal form and then walked to the edge of the deck.

"Hey you two! Get up here! They're here!"

Garnet leaped off the beach below and landed on the deck.

"Stevens, Connie, there's someone new here who is very excited to see you. Come on up!" Garnet called to the mystery person.

A tall figure soon landed on the deck after an impressively high jump. As she stood up, the kids took in the visage of Chrysolite.

"Good morning, sweeties. It's very nice to officially meet you. I'm Chrysolite and I believe these will tell you exactly who I am." Chrysolite said, pointing to the gems on her forehead.

"You're the fusion of Pearl and Peridot A, right?" Connie asked.

"Bingo, Connie-o."

"Wow. This is so cool. Tell me, when did this happen?" Connie asked.

"Last night, after you all were fast asleep, Peridot and Pearl got to talking and eventually their motherly feelings towards you lot led to them syncing up. After that, they decided to try it. Pearl figured, if Amethyst could do it, surely she could. And Peridot had always been curious to see what would happen if she fused with a Pearl. And so, your's truely was 'born'."

"Wow. So, you're, like, the ultimate expression of Pearl and Peridot A's love for the Stevens." Connie said.

Chrysolite knelt down and gently ran a hand across Connie's cheek.

"Not just for them, dear. Pearl cares a great deal about you too, just as Peridot cares for her Connie."

"Same goes for us, Connie." Garnet said.

"Yeah, you're one of us, kid. You're a crystal gem for sure." Amethyst said.

"Only full human member on the team to boot. And that goes for either world." Jasper A added.

"Thanks, guys. Heh, should I start wearing a star?"

"Hey, yeah. Connie should have a star. I know, I'll give her a couple of my shirts." Main Steven said.

"Actually, Steven, I've got a better idea. But, it'll take a while to put it together. Should be ready by Connie's next birthday in a month or so. Till then, Connie, just consider Rose's, sorry, YOUR sword to be the badge marking you as one of us." Garnet said.

"Thanks, Garnet. I will." Connie beamed.

"Hey, Lapis, you can hear this in there, right?" Jasper A called to her leader.

"Sure can and I know what you're getting at. Chrysolite, be a dear and make sure to put a reminder into Peri's logs for us to have the same conversation with our Connie when we get home." Lapis yelled out the window.

"Roger, roger." Chrysolite said and called up Peridot A's screens.

Shortly after entering in the message, an alert came up on Chrysolite screens.

"Oh, the data referencing is done."

"So, what's the verdict, Cry?" Jasper A asked.

"Well, the robonoid actually turned up three possible locations for more information on Zircon. One's at the Skyline barracade, another's at the shimmering lake and the final one is, uh oh."

"What is it?" Garnet asked.

"Um, the last one is at the lunar sea spire."

"Sounds like a job for me and my twin then." Lapis A said as she came out, carefully carrying three plates for the kids.

"Speaking of her, where are our Lapis and Peridot?" Main Steven asked.

"They went back to the barn to check on things and make sure Pumpkin's okay." Amethyst said.

"Oh, alright."

"Well, as soon as they get back, we should hurry up and get on these places." Garnet said.

"Right. Eat quickly guys." Steven A said to his twin and Connie.

"Not too quickly, sweeties. Don't want you to get choked. Oh and remember to thank miss Lapis for doing the cooking."

"Thanks, Lapis." The three said in unison.

"You're welcome, guys. By the way, I believe the best course of action would be to split up. My sister and I can handle the lunar sea spire."

"I'll come with you. The spire may be laid out differently here. You may need a guide." Garnet said.

"Or a fusion partner. You never know. Hmm, a fusion with fire, ice and water powers with the sea surrounding her...oh, that's a lot of power." Lapis A said.

"I'll take Amethyst with me to the skyline barracade. It's still in the same spot right?" Jasper aked Chrysolite.

"Correct."

"What are the skyline barracade and shimmering lake anyway?" Steven A asked.

"The shimmering lake is basically a small version of the mirror sea spire. It functions on a prototype version of the machinary that gives the mirror sea it's name. It's not good enough to pull that off, but it is good enough to make the lake shimmer with an otherworldy glow. And the skyline barracade is a mountain top base similar in desgin to the moon base, but not as large. Speaking of the barracade, Jasper, Amethyst, you'd better take the other Peridot with you when she gets back. She'll be able to hack through what you can't smash." Chrysolite said.

"Got it. So, i guess that leaves you and the kids to take on the the shimmering lake base." Jasper said.

"Yes. And I recommmend that Connie and the Steven of this world fuse into Stevonnie when we go. We may need the added muscle."

"Can do, Chrysolite." Connie said with a salute.

"Alright, then the plans are all set. Now, enjoy your breakfast kids."

Meanwhile, in the diamonds' universe, the Connie-verse gems were being served cookies by Blue diamond.

"Um, not that I don't appreciate this but, I don't really eat." Holly Blue said.

"Oh, but I insist." White Diamond said, stepping in and flashing a crazed smile.

"White, please! We're trying to convice them that we aren't evil like the diamonds they know." Blue said.

"Geez, you suck all the fun out of everything. I can't mess with anybody when you're around."

"We'd get a lot less cross-eyed looks when we go into town if you'd tone down on the messing around."

"Oh, you know you love me and my ways."

"Yes, i do. And you love me and mine. That's why we're sisters. So, do your sister a favor, and knock it off."

"Oh fine. But, I'm taking these." White Diamond said and taking a fistful of the sugar cookies.

"Great, now I need more sugar cookies." Blue Diamond said.

"Here, I'll help you. Here, Connie. You can have this." Holly said, handing her cookie to her Connie.

"Thank you, Holly. I appreciate the help." Blue Diamond said as the blue gems entered the kitchen.

"Not a problem."

"Hey, do you mind if I ask you a question?"

"No, go right ahead."

"Why did you and your team seem so relaxed about the idea of beig in another world once we brought up the multrali displacer?"

"Oh, well, we found one in our world. And we ended up accidentally activating it. Long story short, we met a team of crystal gems from a world where a fusion of a ruby and sapphire called Garnet was the acting leader along with an amethyst and a pearl. They also had a half human member, the daughter of their Rose quartz. But, her name was Nora and I swear she was the female version Steven."

"I see. Gee, I wonder how many different worlds there are out there."

"It's hard to say. The multiverse is potentially infinite. So, there could be infinite worlds out there."

"Well, I hope they all have gems like us protecting them."

"So do I, Blue Diamond. So do I."


	17. chapter 17

After main Lapis and Peridot arrived back at the temple, they were informed of the situation and the teams were soon off. Chrysolite and her team were the first ones off. They arrived at the shimmering lake base in a flash and Chrysolite gave Steven A and Stevonnie time to soak it in. The lake did seem to shimmer with a soft green glow. The base itself sat on an island in the middle of the lake, with four bridges allowing access to it from the front, back, left and right. The building was fairly castle like in appearance and was a soft yellowish gold color all over.

"Wow." Said Steven A.

"It's like something out of a painting." Stevonnie said.

"Yeah, it is rather beautiful. Got to hand it to the homeworld architects. They knew how to build things up to be pretty. Well, if everyone's done gawking, shall we head on in?" Chrysolite asked.

The others nodded and both produced their rose quartz sheilds. Stevonnie also drew her sword.

"That's my babies. Never can be too careful. Well, then, I suppose I should follow your leads."

Chrysolite produced Pearl's spear and several 'fingers' from Peridot A's enhancers. She then had the fingers spin around the spear before a flash of light envolped them. Once the light faded, the fused weapon was revealed. Pearl's spear had turned into a pale green sickle like weapon with a slightly darker green chain at the end of the handle. At the end of the chain, which was a good four feet long, was a heavy looking, pale green ball.

"Whoa, another ninja weapon!" Stevonnie said excitedly.

"The proper name in japanese is kusari-gama. But, yes, it is a ninja weapon." Chrysolite said.

"Hey, I know you can cut stuff with that blade, but can you smash stuff with that ball?" Steven A asked.

"Smash is something my dear sister Fluorite would do with those silly little nunchucks of hers. What yours truly can do is use this ball to strike an opponent from a distance, even disarm them. I can then wrap them up in this chain and once they're captured, I can finish them with a well placed slash of this sickle. But, yes, I suppose I could smash with it if need be."

"Wow, you sound a lot like Sardonyx." Stevonnie said.

"Who?" Steven A asked.

"Sardonyx, the fusion of Pearl and Garnet. I'll be sure to introduce you before you leave."

"Okay. Oh, that reminds me, you haven't met Tiger's eye yet. Or Ammolite. Gotta make sure that happens before we leave too."

"Lookin' forward to it. I'll make sure you meet Alexandrite, our ultimate fusion, too. Now, come on. Let's go."

As the team made their way across the bridge, Steven A ran up beside Chrysolite.

"Hey, Chrysolite?"

"Yes, Steven?"

"I was wondering, what's a zircon like? And is this one we're dealing with different?"

"Well, most zircon serve as part of the judicial system of homeworld. They're basically what humans would call lawyers. However, while homeworld generally likes keeping things in line with the status quo, they aren't beyond experimenting occasionally. From the records Peridot gathered in her world, it seems that the Zircon we're dealing with was the result of such an experiment. You see, Zircons, on the whole, are fairly intelligent. You have to be if you're going to be a lawyer. But, someone on homeworld got to wondering if that intelligence could be used elsewhere. So, an experimental, scientist Zircon was created. She seemed to work out, until she invented the machine that started all this."

"So, are all the other zircons still, um, 'functioning'?"

"I believe so, yes. Why do you ask?"

"Well, when we rescued dad from Pink Diamond's zoo, I saw a room that had a ton of bubbled rose quartz gems. Blue Diamond was keeping them as part of Pink's legacy, while Yellow wanted to shatter them all."

"Same here." Stevonnie said, her Steven side clearly talking.

"Oh, yes, now the memories are coming to me. I recall Pearl and Peridot talking to you about it on the way back to Earth in your respective worlds."

"Yeah, and I...I just can't help but think that it's mom's fault. They would be free if only she..."

Chrysolite knelt down and cradled Steven A's face in her hands.

"Steven, I know how bad you must feel. How bad you both must feel." Chrysolite said, glancing at Stevonnie.

"And I'm sure either version of Rose would feel just as bad if they were here. But, these are the realities of homeworld after the war. Whole groups of people are often punished for the wrong doings or even just the percieved wrong doings of a few rogues. Speaking for myself and my components, I'd imagine that pearls in this world and peridots in the other got cross-eyed looks for quite a while after we joined the rebellion. But, that is something that we just can't do anything about. Homeworld is simply that way, as are the diamonds. They probably let the normal zircons off the proverbial hook only because this zircon was created as part of an experiment. She was the only one of her type, so she was the only one to be punished. As for the other rose quartzes, well, there's nothing we can do. Yes, we feel bad and we want to change things but we're just not strong enough right now to do it. But that's why we do our best everyday. So that hopefully, one day, we will be strong enough. We let it fuel us. And that's what you three should do." Chrysolite said, making note of Stevonnie's status as a fellow fusion.

"Stevens, Connie, and even Stevonnie as an individual, listen to me. Do not let your negative emotions overwhelm you. Instead, take how bad you feel and let it fuel your desires to make things better. Understand?"

"Yeah, we get it. Thanks, Chrysolite." Steven A said.

"Not a problem, dears. Now let's go."

As the group ventured further and entered into the base, Chrysolite called up a map hologram from Peridot A's enhancers.

"This way." Chrysolite said, pointing to the hall on her left.

"Hey, Cry?" Stevonnie asked as they headed down the hall.

"Yes, dear?"

"I just had a thought. Could there be another Chrysolite?"

"Well, of course. If Pearl were to fuse with the Peridot of this world, I would be 'reborn'. Vice versa is true for the other world."

"No, I mean, could another fusion, of completely different gems, call herself Chrysolite?"

"Oh, well, yes. If the components agreed to that name. You see, homeworld decided the names of all the gem types ages ago. But, cross gem fusions are 'born' with the unique ability to decide their own name. After all, homeworld doesn't approve of them, so they wouldn't name them. So, the component gems have a conversation inside the fusion and decide upon the name. At least, that's how it is for healthy fusions. Fusions like the Malachite of this world or the Sugilite of the other generally have one part choose the name and then force her will on the other. But, regardless, the name is chosen, not given. Except for you, Stevonnie. You were given yours, but you took it and owned it."

"Right. So, there could be a fusion of, like, say, three or four gems that could call herself Chrysolite?"

"Yes, as long as the gems involved agree to it. Using my sister Fluorite as a further example, there could be a fusion out there made up of, let's say, six random gems that could also take the name Fluorite. Furthermore, if Pearl was to fuse with the Peridot of this world, not only could I look slightly different due to the different looks of the two peridots switching in and out, I could also have a different name if this world's Peridot came up with a name Pearl liked better. Same is true for the other world. And don't get me started on personality differences."

"I see. You know, I never thought about stuff like this before. Guess it's cause of all the time I'm spending fused lately."

"Perfectly alright, honey. It's natural to be curious. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask."

"Okay, thanks, Cry...hey, do you hear that?"

"That buzzing sound? Yes, I hear it quite clearly. But what us it?"

"It sounds like a bunch of bees. Like, a million of them." Steven A said.

Suddenly, a yellow and black mass came around the corner at the end of the hall.

"What is that?!" Steven A yelled.

"Whatever it is, it's making that buzzing noise." Stevonnie said.

"Oh, no." Chrysolite said.

"What is it, Cry?" Stevonnie yelled.

"I just remembered, this place was run entirely by a mass of yellow spinels. And the last known logs said they were all still here when the diamonds caused the mass corruption."

"So, then, that swarm is..."

Suddenly, dozens of glowing red eyes appeared in the swarm, along with the silvery glint of large stingers.

"Run!" Chrysolite yelled.

The crystal gems took off in full sprints, the spinel swarm hot on their tails.

"Cry, why aren't we fighting back?" Stevonnie yelled.

"There's not enough room. True, all of our weapons can be used at close range. But, in this situation, getting the maximum out of our weapons and abilities is paramount. So, we need to find a more open area. And the map says that there is a good sized one right around the next bend. This way!" Chrysolite yelled while checking the map.

The group ran into a large, nigh on empty room.

"Perfect. Brace yourselves."

The horde came barrelling at the three heroes.

"Bubble, now." Chrysolite called out.

Stevonnie and Steven A combined their energies to create a large bubble.

"Now what?" Steven A yelled as the spinels slammed into the bubble.

"Expand it. Add those spikes Pearl and Peridot heard about." Chrysolite directed as she began to spin her chain above her head.

Stevonnie and Steven A did as told. They even managed to poof some of the swarm with the spikes. Meanwhile, Chrysolite spun the ball end of her weapon rapidly. Once she felt like she had built up enough momentum, she cried out to the others.

"Drop the bubble, now!"

As soon as the bubble dropped, Chrysolite swung her chain out in a wide arc. She managed to catch most of the swarm with this attack, which sent the corrupted gems flying into the nearby ball. They all poofed on impact, then Chrysolite used the sickle end of her weapon to dispatch the few remaining spinels.

"Whoa! That was totally amazing!" Steven A said star eyed.

"Naturally. Any plan I put into effect will always end perfectly. Now then, Stevonnie, would you be a dear and mass bubble these poor ladies? I'm not sure where my bubbles would end up."

Stevonnie nodd and bubbled all the gems, then sent them off.

"Alright, now let's move on."

Meanwhile, deep underground, more red eyes lit up the dark.


	18. chapter 18

As the group walked back to where the console they needed to access was, Steven A stepped back to Stevonnie.

"Hey, Stevonnie?" Steven A asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah?" Stevonnie said softly, sensing that her half alternate wanted to talk quietly.

"Did you notice anything about that last fight?"

"If you mean how Cry kept us completely on defense while she did all the real fighting, then yes, I noticed something."

" 'Sigh' Should've known this was coming. Fuse two overprotective moms together..."

"And you get a mega-overprotective mom. I know. Now, don't get me wrong. I appreciate her watching out for us. But, she has to know that we can handle ourselves. I mean, I've got the stinkin' sword that poofs gems in one hit for crying outloud."

"Yeah, plus, me and you could fight together like I do with Connie."

"I think so too. But, Cry... 'sigh' I know Pearl and Peridot A know all this individually, but put them together, fuse their desires to keep us safe, and anything they know goes out the window."

"Yup. But, what can we do about it?"

" 'Sigh' Unfortunately, probably not much."

"Ah, here we are. Finally back on track. Alright, you two. You keep watch while I tap into the data banks here. Throw up your bubbles immeadiately if you see any sign of trouble." Chrysolite said, completely unaware of her charges' conversation.

"Um, Cry, you know that we can fight, right?" Steven A asked.

"Of course I do. And I'm proud of how strong you are. But fighting right now would just waste energy. Of which, you two don't have an almost unlimited supply. Unlike yours truely. And who knows what else we'll be getting into today. Just conserve your strength by playing defense. Now,if you'll excuse me, I need to have a word with mr. console over here."

Chrysolite then began to tap the data. After a few minutes, the fusion's brow furrowed.

"Hmm, double edged news, everybody. Bad news, there's not a lot on Zircon here. Good news, since there's not a lot of data, the download won't take long at all. And we can put off uploading it to the robonoid until after we get out of here. Just a few more moments to go and we can head home."

True to Chrysolite's word, the download was done in mere moments.

"Alright, you two. Let's get out of here."

" ' Sigh' So much for needing me for the extra muscle. " Stevonnie groaned.

"Well, I honestly thought we might. But, it turned out that my powers were more than sufficient. But, that's for the best. The less fighting you two have to do, the safer you are. Now let's go."

As the trio turned to head out, the room began to shake.

"Wah! Earthquake!" Steven A shouted.

"Stand perfectly still and put up your bubbles. It'll be over in a moment." Chrysolite said.

The others did as told, but Chrysolite noticed that the floor was cracking. And the cracks were headed right for Steven A.

"Steven!" The fusion shouted and threw herself into Steven A's bubble with enough force to knock it a few feet away.

Just then, the floor under Chrysolite broke open and a torrent of corrupted spinels slammed into the fusion. The impact slammed her into the ceiling. As she fell, she defused back into Pearl and Peridot A.

"Pearl!"

"Peridot!"

The younger crystal gems dropped their bubbles and ran to their respective mother figures.

"Pearl! Are you okay?" Stevonnie asked, her voice full of concern.

"Mph! Yes. I, ug, I'm fine." Pearl responded while struggling to get to her feet.

"You don't sound fine."

"I'll be okay. Now, stand back. I'll keep these ladies at bay." Pearl said as she summoned her spear.

"No. You're not going in alone this time. I'll fight with you. Just like mom used to. Now, let's go, Pearl."

"Stevonnie...fine. Together. Just like old times." The motherly gem said as she took up her position, back to back with Stevonnie.

The two began to slash at the spinel swarm around them, poofing and bubbling as fast as they could. Meanwhile, Peridot A was on her feet. With one arm, she blasted the spinels with her enhancer's blaster function. With the other, she held Steven A tightly to her. The boy could reach out just enough to bubble their enemies as Peridot poofed them.

"Peri, it'd be a lot easier if you'd just let me fight too."

" No, Steven. I won't let you put yourself in harm's way. I can handle this! " Peridot A said, her maternal drive to protect casting out all other reasoning.

Just then, a hand full of Spinels struck Peridot A in the arm, causing her to drop Steven.

"Peridot!" Steven A shouted.

" Stay back, Steven. I'll protect you! "

Seeing another mass of Spinels heading right at Peridot, Steven made up his mind.

"No! I'll protect you!" Steven A shouted and summoned as big a version of his shield as he could.

He slammed the oversized shield into ground in between Peridot and the spinels, causing them to smash into them. This left the corruptions stunned for a moment.

"Steven, I told you..." Peridot A started.

" Peri, you aren't my shield! That big thing is my shield! You're my mom! "

Peridot A was taken aback.

"No, Rose..."

"I know who gave birth to me. I think about her a lot. But, I also know who's been there in her place since the beginning. And that was you, Lapis and Jasper! You're all my moms. You're my family. And it hurts to watch my family get hurt. Especially when they are getting hurt trying to protect me. That's why I've been trying so hard to get strong. So that I could protect myself and return the favor you guys have been doing me for s! That's why I'm not gonna hide behind you any more. I'm gonna fight alongside you and keep you safe."

" Steven, I... "

"Peri, even the best moms need help from their sons some times. So, just let me help you. Okay, green mama?"

Peridot teared up and threw her arms around Steven in right hug.

" Okay. We'll watch over each other from now on. I love you, son. "

"I love you too, mom." Steven said, returning the hug.

As the spinels finally recovered and made their way around the shield a bright flash of orange light forced them back. This flash caught Pearl and Stevonnie's attention.

"What just happened over there?" Stevonnie said out loud.

Suddenly, the giant shield disappeared and revealed a tall figure. Said figure jumped up and kicked several spinels into the nearby wall, causing them to poof. The swarm then started to dive bomb the mystery person, who skillfully dodged with a series of back flips. The flips ended up putting the person in the center of the room , for all to see.

" 'Gasp' is that? " Pearl barely managed to say.

"It is! It's Siderite!" Stevonnie shouted.

The reborn fusion looked largely the same as she did in Peridot A's hologram. However, Steven's pants had replaced the flowing dress in the form of a jean skirt with Peridot's enhancers acting as leggings. Steven 's shirt, meanwhile, had turned into a muffler style scarf that wrapped around the fusion's neck.

"Whoa! We fused!" Siderite 2 .0 shouted as she finally took a moment to look at herself.

Siderite looked herself over and then smirked.

"Liking the new look. A little old and a little new. Perfection reached, now I know what I've got to do." Siderite jokingly rhymed.

The fusion formed her trade mark bolo then turned to Stevonnie.

"Hey, sis. Mind if I borrow mom's blade for a second?"

" Nope. Go right ahead. " Stevonnie said and threw the sword to her fellow fusion.

"By the way, Pearl?" Siderite said.

" Y-yes? "

"This fusion feels great. And it's way easier than you'd think. Just some food for thought!" Siderite shouted and leaped into battle.

The fusion threw several copies of her bolo into the crowd of corrupted spinels. She caught a handful in groups of two to three this way and promptly dispatched them with Rose's sword. She then used another bolo as a grapple on a group of spinels nearby and used the big-time bunch like a wrecking ball on the crowd. This sent many spinels flying into the walls, where they poofed on impact.

"Woohoo! Go Siderite!" Stevonnie cheered.

"She looks like she's having a blast. They're loving being fused. Maybe... Maybe it would be like that for me too." Pearl muttered.

Just then, a loud clang caught Pearl off guard. She looked to the source of the sound and saw Stevonnie blocking a group of spinels with her shield. She was protecting Pearl from being attacked.

"Get your head in the game, Pearl. They might be more focused on Siderite right now, but they haven't forgotten about us."

"Right. We still have to do our part. Hmm, I've got an idea. Stevonnie, let me use your shield as a springboard."

" Ready when you are! " Stevonnie said, holding her shield low.

Pearl jumped up and landed on the shield. Stevonnie then hurled her into the air with her full strength. Pearl gracefully back flipped through the air and fired off many blasts from her spear, poofing many corruptions in the process.

"Nice one, Pearl."

"Your turn, Stevonnie!" Pearl yelled while cupping her hands.

Stevonnie ran up, jumped into Pearl's hands and was promptly thrown into the air. Once there, she expanded her shield as much as she could and fell onto a large group spinels. This crushed them into poofing.

Seconds later, three bolos whipped passed Stevonnie and tied up more spinels. Siderite jumped in and spun through the air, slashing spinels out of midair with Rose's sword.

"Hmph. Show off." Stevonnie said jokingly.

"Hey, if you've got it, flaunt it. But seriously, I think it's time to put this battle to rest. And I know how to do it. Here, take your sword back. Use it and your shielding drive the rest of the spinels towards the center of the room. Pearl, you don the same with your fireballs."

"We're on it! Come on, Pearl!"

The duo quickly pushed the remaining swarm into the center of the room. Stevonnie even tossed the tied up but not yet poofed ones into the midst. Once the last spinel was in place, Siderite created a large version of her bolo and threw it around the horde.

"Nice. Now what?" Stevonnie asked.

" Oh, did I forget to mention that I can do this? " Siderite said and revealed that she could strum the bolo's 'string' and create a powerful vibration that radiated through the spinels, causing them to poof.

"Okay. That was awesome." Stevonnie said, star-eyed.

"Thank you. Now, let's get these ladies bubbled and get out of here."

The team worked fast and bubbled all the spinels. As soon as Pearl sent the last batch off, they headed to wrap pad.

"Boy, we have got one check of a story to tell everybody when we get back." Stevonnie said.

Siderite nodded in agreement and said " We sure do. Hmm, I wonder how they're doing with their missions. "


	19. 19

"We, are the crystal gems. We'll always save the day. And if you think we can't, we'll always find a way. That's why the people of this world, believe in. Garnet, the lapis twins and...crud. We don't have enough gems with us." Lapis A said as made their way to the lunar sea spire.

"You're really singing that song? Now?" Main Lapis asked her doppelganger.

"Well, yeah. I mean, last i heard, the spire's just full of crystal shrimp. They're kind of dangerous, but you and i can fly. So, we could carry Garnet and soar right over them. So, we pretty much got the easy mission. So, why not pass the time with a catchy tune?"

"Hmm, still feels like another 'join the crystal gems' pitch to me. I mean, you said the lapis 'twins'. That would include me."

"Take it however you want, sister dear. But i was legitimately just singing a song to pass the time."

"Well, I still think it was a pitch in disguise. And, now that i think about it, this reminds me of something i saw in camp pining hearts. What was it called again? Peer presssure?"

Lapis A sighed and took main Lapis's hand in her own. She then brought it up to the star on her midsection and kept it there.

"Lapis, listen. I know how i sound when i make those pitches. But, i am not trying to force you into anything. If you want me to drop it, i'll drop it."

"Well, it's just that it makes me think. And i don't like thinking too hard. Cause i have a tendency to stew on things. Mostly negative things too. I...i just can't seem to help it."

"And that's why i make pitches. Lapis, i am upbeat most of the time because i love myself and those around me. It makes me feel good. And hence, i'm upbeat. But, you, well, you love Steven and you care about your Peridot whether you acknowledge it or not. But, you don't like yourself much. And, i have found, through personal experience, that having friends there to extend a hand to you will cut through the gloom. Do you remember my story about my friend, Red topaz? Well, here's the aftermath. After i had to poof and bubble her after she corrupted, i fell into a darkness inside my mind. I felt horrible. I was angry with myself because i wasn't able to save her. I was mad at homeworld for causing Red the stress she went through. I was mad at Red herself for pushing herself so hard that she broke. I was even mad at my fellow crystal gems for there being no one else around to poof and bubble her. I isolated myself from everyone. Red, she...she was my first fusion partner. I had never felt closer to anyone. And now she was gone. I seriously thought about quitting the crystal gems, to be honest. But, do you know who stopped me?"

"Who?"

"Jasper. She was always there. At first, she just felt sorry for me. But, eventually, a homeworld attack forced us into a cave. I started freaking out, cursing just about everything. Jasper questioned me about what was wrong. That's where the truth came out. Jasper then swore to me that she would never let me be alone. She'd be there, no matter what. And then we threw ourselves at the homeworlders and won. It wasn't easy. Took a while to recouperate after that. But the fact that we'd done it together cemented our bond.After that, it was of little surprise that we ended up forming Malachite for the first time the next time we were in a pitched battle. Now, Maly did go a little off tilter that time, due to my repressed anger and Jasper's warrior's soul mixing the longer we fought. But, usually, she was pretty easy to get along with. Least, that was what everyone said. Speaking of others, after fusing with Jasper a few times and our trust in each other deepening more, i trusted Jasper's judgement when she said i should confide in Rose and Peridot about all the stuff i normally kept locked up. And Rose turned on the caring big sister role big time when i did. Meanwhile, Peridot taught me alot of ways to use logic and reasoning to sort out my thoughts and emotions. So, in a way, everyone was unknowingly grooming me to become the person I am today. The person Rose chose to take over as leader. Sometimes, i wish we had the opposite of a Sapphire. A gem who could look into the past. If there was one, I'd ask her if my becoming leader was fate. But, irregardless, you see my point. I've been where you are. I've been hurt, felt angry and alone. But, my friends wouldn't let it define me. They helped me, putting in their two cents here and there. All so that i wouldn't wallow in self loathing and grief, but be a person who loves herself and loves others. They helped me become a better person. And they let me do it at my own pace. They were just cheering for me and offering advice when i got stuck. And that's what i'm trying to do for you, Lapis. I love myself. And since you are me, that means i love you too. So, i want you to be happy like i am. But, my time here is limited. That's why i make pitches. I'm trying to hammer the need for friends into you and point out the ample supply you potentially have in the crystal gems. So, you see, if i sound pushy or if it seems like i'm rushing you, it's only because i care but i don't have a lot of time to slowly walk you through all of this. Believe me, I'd like to. But, I can't. Understand?"

"Y-yeah."

"Garnet, anything you wanna say?" Lapis A asked.

"Yes. Lapis, do you recall when we went into space to save Greg?"

"Um, yeah. You left me and Peridot in charge of protecting the town. And Steven asked Connie to do it. That's how we ended up forming the crystal temps."

"Yes, and by the way, i must hear your Garnet impersonation at some point. But, back to the matter at hand. Do you know why I trusted you with protecting beach city?"

"Well, i thought that since Peridot was a member, you trusted her and i was just along for the ride."

"Truth be told, i was counting on Peridot to do everything in her power if something happened. But, I wasn't counting on her alone. I was counting on you, trusting you individually. Now, do you know why i trusted you? Why i still trust you?"

"Because i'm a friend of Steven's and you trust in him?"

"That is part of it. I've learned that Steven is a fine judge of character. He's not always right, but when he is, he's spot on. And he was right about you. I saw that he believed in you, so i wanted to believe in you. Now, you didn't make it easy. You did several things that made me question Steven's belief. But there was an instance that i noticed that proved that he was right. And that was when we were dealing with Andy. When he threatened to kick and you Peridot out of the barn, you refered to the barn, not once but twice, as your home. I didn't say anything, but i knew then that you had come to consider at least a small piece of Earth as home. And that was all that was needed. For you see, the greatest walls and the mightiest trees start as just a few bricks or a single seed. They just need time and help to grow. That's how i knew, without using future vision, that you, Lapis, were a crystal gem in the making. That's why I trust you. Because, in a way, you're already one of us."

"I, um..."

"By the way, just throwing this out there. I think turing this..." Lapis A said while circling the diamond patteren on her double's outfit with her finger. "Into a star while keeping the mid-drift split would look nice. And I think making it white or baby blue would really make it pop. But, i guess I'm biased." She finished, pointing at her own star

"Um, well, uh...l-let's just go get this data already." Main Lapis said and trudged off.

Garnet and Lapis A gave each other knowing grins before following her. A few moments later, the threesome arrived at the tower's location.

"So it's sunk down here?" Main Lapis asked Garnet.

"That's right. We could've saved it from sinking, but Steven forgot to bring the moon goddess statue. Oh my stars, he felt terrible for a long time."

"Something similar happened in our world. See, i didn't go with the others to our spire, because i had to go retrieve the heaven beetle after Tiger's eye forgot it. Would've gottten to it sooner, but so much happend after that mission that it kept getting pushed back. And lo and behold, the moment i get a bit of free time to go get the beetle is exactly the moment the statue needs to go back to the spire. I thought they could handle it without me, but Steven forgot the statue just like he did here. Oh, he was apologizing for weeks. Two missions he was on were flubbed and he was taking all the blame. Took a long time to convince him that it was okay. Bad luck just happens sometimes." Lapis A said.

"Yeah, he tries to shoulder more than he needs to."

"But, that's why we love him."

"Ahem! If you two are done mama-ing, I believe we have a job to do." Main Lapis said.

"She's right. We can chatter on and on about Steven later. Here, allow me to do the honors." Lapis A said and promptly split the sea.

"Alright, you two. Keep your wings ready. As far as I know, this place is still full of crystal shrimp." Garnet said.

"Got it. Sis, try to keep one wing turned into a fist, just in case. Our track record so far has seen us get attacked by something at every new location we vist. So, better safe than sorry."

"Okay. Now let's go."

The three headed inside. As they got into the main lobby, main Lapis made an observation.

"Wow, it's dark in here."

"You got that right. Okay, here's the plan. First of all, Garnet, pass me the map slash data extractor thing Chrysolite made last night." Lapis A said.

Garnet produced the object from Ruby's gem. In over all form, it looked like a blue version of a limb enhancer.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed with how fast Chrysolite made this and it's twin out of some old gem tech Pearl and Amethyst had lying around." Garnet said as she handed the device over.

"Me too. But, it's no real surprise, really. I mean, she is the fusion of two genius technicians. It should be expected, now that i think about it. Anyway, this is how we'll do this. I'll wear this like the limb enhancer it basically is and use the map function. In other words, I'll be the guide. Meanwhile, Garnet, you take point and light the way. Finally, Lapis, you cover the rear."

"Alright, now let's move already." Main Lapis.

"Alright, one second." Lapis A said, while calling up the map. "Hmm, okay. Looks like the terminal we need to access is on the seventh floor. So, Garnet, light it up and let's go."

Garnet lit up her gems and the team was off.


	20. Chapter 20

As Garnet and the Lapis twins made their way up the spire, Lapis A was tinkering with the device she wore on her arm. She was trying to see if there were any other tricks up the thing's proverbial sleeve.

"What are you doing?" Main Lapis asked her alternate.

"Trying to see if Chrysolite slipped any hidden functions into this thing. Peri likes to do that, in order to suprise us when we eventually find them. But, it looks like she didn't have time this time. Oh, well."

"Hmm, hey, if this whole spire is shut down, wouldn't that deactivate the terminal we're after?" Main Lapis asked.

"Yeah, i think so. But, the data is still saved in the data banks. Just waiting for someone to power it back on." Lapis A responded.

"So, what? We're gonna turn the power back on? Is that how we get the data?"

"Hmm, good question. I don't know. All i know is there's one other button on this device that Chrysolite made. It's clearly labeled extractor, but i don't know what it does. Considering how fast she put it together, this button could do flippin' anything. I'm actually a little scared to push it. Oh, well, you only live once." Lapis A said and pushed the button.

Half a second after she pushed the button, tiny arms folded out of the sides of the the device with what looked like drill bits on the ends.

"Um, okay."

The 'drills' then split open to reveal various small tools.

"Oh, I get it now. It's like a multi-tool. All these little pieces are supposed to help us break open the terminal and take the data banks themselves, which we can easily hack into at home. Ingenious."

"It is. It would also be alot quieter than one of us using our powers to smash it open. It would draw alot less attention from the shrimp." Garnet said, looking over her shoulder.

"Hey, yeah. Good point. She probably planned ahead for that. Nice going, Cry." Lapis A said and pushed the button again to deactivate extractor mode.

"Okay, it's almost getting annoying with how smart Chrysolite is. Hopefully she doesn't stick around long term." Main Lapis said.

"That's kind of mean." Garnet said.

"You have to understand my position. Like, okay, Pearl can be a know it all, but if you tell her to knock it off, she stops right there. Not so much with Peri. I can't tell you how many times she has gotten onto a tangent and i have literally had to freeze her mouth shut in order to get a word in. Don't get me wrong, Peri's big brain does come in handy. But she is capital A annoying when she gets really fired up."

"Lapis A, did you notice that?" Garnet asked.

"Yup, and I've been keeping count. We're up to eight times so far."

"Eight times for what?" Main Lapis asked.

"The number of times you've called your Peridot the friendly nickname of Peri. Since my team and i got here, you've said it eight times. Twice just now. And you know, for some one so dead set on acting so aloof, you sure are sweet on that little green gem."

"Hmph! I'd freeze your mouth shut if i thought it'd do any good." Main Lapis said with a huff and a blush.

This reaction gave Garnet and Lapis A a good laugh that carried them up the next two floors. They had reached the fifth floor when Garnet stopped and looked around.

"What's up, Garnet?" Lapis A asked.

"The last time we were here, we could barely get across one floor because of all the shrimp. And i always thought that there were far more than what we saw. But now, we've gone up five floors and haven't seen a single shrimp. And i highly doubt that they were washed out to sea."

"Hmm, that is weird. Wonder where they all went?"

At the furthest reach of Garnet's lights, Main Lapis saw something.

"Hey, look over there. I saw something move in that little room."

"Let's check it out." Lapis A said.

The three walked in and reflexively took a step back when they saw what was in the room.

"The crystal shrimp." Lapis A said.

"This looks like several floors worth, if not the whole spire. What are they all doing in here?" Garnet asked.

"Well, I think they're hiding, cause they're scared." Main Lapis said.

"Scared?" Lapis A asked.

"Yeah. See, Peridot and I keep finding these little insects around the barn. Steven says they're called pill bugs. They roll up into little balls when scared. These 'shrimp' remind me of them. And look, they're all curled up."

Lapis A looked. Sure enough, her doppelganger was right. The shrimp looked to be outright quaking with fear.

"But, if they are scared, what are they scared of?"

Just then, something slammed against the wall of the spire from the outside.

"What the heck was that?!" Lapis A shouted.

Since Lapis A had only parted the waters enough to let them walk in and through the spire, Main Lapis was able to look out through a neaby window and see the ocean outside. In the dim light, she saw a faint glow approaching the window.

"What the?" Lapis wondered outloud as she approached the window.

As the glow got closer, Lapis's eyes widened.

"Oh, you've gotta be kiddding me!"

Just then, a large creature smashed through the window, spilling tonnes of water into the room. The crystal shrimp all fled as Lapis used water arms from her gem to try to hold the creature off.

"Ugh! Why me? Why do i always have to be the one to get attacked by the corruptions? First the bull, now this shark? What did i do to deserve this?" Main Lapis groaned as she tried to fend off the creature.

"Hold on, Lapis. I'll get it!" Garnet said, summoning one gauntlet.

She readied to punch the creature, until she caught sight of it's gem. Garnet recoiled and froze.

"Garnet? What's wrong?" Lapis A asked.

"It, it's, it's gem, it's..." Garnet said while seeming to begin a panic attack.

Lapis A looked at it's gem and she too froze.

"No, not that. Why here too?"

"You guys!" Main Lapis yelled as she finally got enough wiggle room to send a column of water into the underside of the creature's mouth.

The impact caused it to back flip into the water that was rapidly filling the room. As it swam away to get it's barings, Main Lapis used her powers to shove a nearby piece of stone into the hole where the window was and sealed it off, cutting off the water in the process. She then turned to her teammates.

"Thanks alot, you two. Really felt the team work there."

She then noticed the state of the de facto leaders.

"Geez, what softened your ores? It's just a corrupted gem. We see those all the time. It's sad to see, but nothing to freakout over."

"It's not a corruption." Lapis A said meekly.

"Well, what is it then?"

"Look at it's gem."

Lapis looked at where the shark's right eye should be and saw a gem made of mismatched pieces.

"Are those...gem shards?" Lapis asked with a disturbed look on her face.

"Yes. Part of homeworld's forced fusion experiments."

"Forced fusion? With gem shards? Monsters! Come on! We've gotta put this thing out of it's misery."

"I, I can't. Some of those shards could've been my friends. I can't, I just can't." Lapis A said, wide eyed in shock.

"Whatever. Come on, Garnet!"

"We have to fight. But they could've been our friends. All the more reason to stop them. I can't. I just can't. I'm sorry, I, I..." Garnet said and began to split apart.

"No! We need big, bad Garnet! Not the lovey dovey duo! Come on, Garnet! Keep it together!" Main Lapis shouted, as she tried to physically force Garnet to stay together.

But to no avail. Garnet came undone witn a loud pop and Main Lapis shouted to the heavens.

"Great! Stuck fighting a franken-shard monster and all my back up's gone bye bye." Lapis yelled and lit up her gem to make up dor the loss of Garnet's light.

"That's not true. I'll fight with you, Lapis." Ruby said, summoning her gauntlet.

"Ruby..." Sapphire said meekly.

"We have to do this, Saph. Look at that thing. It's body's made of knotted limbs, it's got a giant hand for a tail fin and I think it's teeth are made of fingers. It just looks like it's in pain and it's lashing out because of it. No wonder the crystal shrimp were afraid. This thing's the stuff of nightmares, and not just for us. It has to be pure torture to be stuck like that. That's why I'm going to help Lapis put it down. Because, if I was stuck like that, I'd want somebody to poof me for sure. Now, come on, Lapis!"

The blue and red gems launched themselves at the creature. Lapis tried her best to hit it with torrents of water while Ruby jumped at it with mighty punches. But, the beast was too fast and dodged everything.

"Darn it! It's too fast. Lapis, why don't you just use all of the water in here to crush it? It couldn't possibly dodge that."

"I've thought about it but, churning this amount of water around is likely to bring the whole dang spire down on top of us. Really don't feel like poofing today. Do you?"

"No, no I don't. So, what else can we throw at it? Wait, throw! That's it! Lapis, throw me at it!"

"What?"

"Use your powers to throw me at it! I'm small and lite, but strong too. If you use your powers to throw me at it as hard as you can, I'll smack into it with enough force to poof it!"

"Eh, worth a shot. Hang on!"

Lapis formed a large hand around Ruby and then threw her as hard as she could at the shark. Ruby roared as she prepared to strike the creature. However, the creature turned around and caught Ruby with it's tail fin hand.

"No! Ruby!" Main Lapis shouted.

Just then, a surge if water knocked the creature over and a blue blur darted through and grabbed Ruby. It then took her back over to Lapis.

"Sapphire?" Ruby said she got her barings and saw who had her.

"Not just her. I'm in this too." Lapis A said she walked up to the three and threw up a water wall to keep the creature away.

"Huh. So, you finally hero-ed up, eh?" Main Lapis asked her twin.

"Only after watching you and Ruby hero up. You were right. We have to take this thing down."

"I doubt I'll ever be able to see something like this and not be shocked to my core. However, watching you two reminded me of our purpose as crystal gems. We swore to defend Earth and all that live on it. Including unfortunate beasts like this. So, we must do what's best for it and end it's suffering." Sapphire said.

"That's my Sapphy!" Ruby said.

"Well, I'm all for that plan. Anybody got an idea on how to do it?" Main Lapis asked.

"From what I've seen, this thing is fast, strong and won't sit still. That's why me and Lapis will have a hard time taking it down. Our best bet is to let it come to us and hit it point blank. Problem there is that we'd need pin-point timing to pull it off, otherwise we get rammed. So, I'm thinking we need something strong and durable to be able to take the attack and turn it right back at it." Lapis A said.

"Strong and durable huh? Well, I got an idea for that and I'm not talking about Garnet. Lapis A, what's say we find out what happens when you put fire, ice and water together?"

"You read my mind, Ruby. Sis, take the extractor and control of the water wall." Lapis A said while handing over the extractor.

"Got it. Now let's end this already!"

"My pleasure. Ladies? Shall we?"

The three danced a quick dance and formed into a large fusion. She had violet colored skin, four arms, a body suit similar to Garnet's and a bluish purple skirt that was open in the front, held up by a belt a purple star on the buckle. The rest of her outfit was split down the middle with the left side being a dark purple and the the left a lighter shade. Her hair had Lapis's trademark bangs, was tied up into a loose pony tail and was a very light shade of purple.

"Nice. So, what do I call you, newbie?" Lapis asked.

"Hmm. Call me, Tanzanite!"

"Tanzanite, got it. Nice to meet you. Now, clean this thing's clock!" Lapis shouted as she dropped the water wall.

"Gladly! Here Sharky-shark. Come get some!" Tanzanite said summoned her gauntlets onto all four arms and then formed claws of ice in between the knuckles.

The creature charged the fusion, but Tanzanite caught it easily. She uppercutted it into the the air and then quickly formed some water wings. She flew up to the shark and began to spin all around it. As she did, her ice claws slashed it all over before she slammed all four gauntlets onto it's head, causing it to poof. Tanzanite plucked the 'gem' out of mid air and landed next to Lapis. She promptly unfused into her three component gems, with Lapis A holding the gem.

"Well, that didn't last long. And why didn't you two reform Garnet?" Main Lapis asked.

"There's a simple reason for all of that. Mental strain. Overcoming our fears and then going into a fusion like that was mentally exhausting. We are simply taking a break. We will reform Garnet shortly." Sapphire said.

"Okay. So, who's bubbling this poor thing?" Main Lapis asked, staring at the gem.

"I think you should." Lapis A said, looking at her twin.

"Me?"

"Yeah, after all, you led the charge. So, you 'earned' it. And I know that, if I can bubble things with regular bubbles, you can too. Just, give it a shot."

"But, we don't know where my bubbles will go."

"Oh, I think the three of us know where it'll end up. We'll show you when we get out of here. Now, come on."

Lapis tentatively stuck out a hand a navy blue bubble formed around the gem.

"Whoa. I can do it. Cool. So, now what do I do?"

"Just give it a little tap on the top to send it home." Ruby said.

Lapis tapped the bubble and it disappeared.

"Okay. Now let's go get that data bank and get outta here. I want to show my sis where that went."

The foursome hurried up and collected the data bank and then returned to the warp pad. Sapphire selected the destination and they soon arrived at the barn.

"What? The barn?" Main Lapis questioned.

"Just follow us." Ruby said.

The gems headed into the barn, briefly greeted Pumpkin and then Lapis A pointed up to the ceiling. Next to Peridot's bubbles was Lapis's. The eyes of the gemself herself widened as she looked at it.

"Welcome home, Lapis." Ruby said.

"Whoa." Lapis simply muttered.

Suddenly, a new lime green bubble appeared with a gem in it. Ruby eyed it with a cocked brow.

"A new one from Peridot? Wonder what they're up to."


	21. Q&A

So, yeah. I have never done this before, but I wanted to try it. Here goes.

First of all, thanks for all the support, guys. I do believe Steven Multiverse is the fastest I have ever had a story reach into the forties in faves and follows.I am very grateful for that and here's hoping for more to come.

Now, let me address a personal concern. Since work leaves me tired, I don't frankly feel like pulling out my laptop to write. Luckily though, the app I have on my phone and my tablet lets me write while chilling on the couch. Down side is that it doesn't have spell check. So, if words are spelled incorrectly, or even missing in some cases, that's why. I try to proof read as much as possible, but I have astigmatism in both eyes. So, things are likely to get past me. I hope it's not too bad.

Now on to questions.

Some one asked for a list of all the worlds I'm using for this, so here it is.

Canon-verse( obviously)

Momswap

Opal AU( mentioned and maybe more later on)

Diamond-verse( this particular version was all my idea but inspired by art that replaces Rose with Yellow D, and sometimes Pink D)

Connie-verse( another one i made up. Connie usually gets Steven's gems when she swaps with him, so i wanted to give her a unique set. There is art where holly blue, jasper and Rhodonite make up the CG though. So, apparently I'm not the only one who likes Holly as a cg)

Nora-verse( mentioned. Pretty much the same as canon, but Steven is Nora. Funny thing, i imagined Nora's CG being the pilot versions when I wrote them in. Not sure why.)

Next question, will the main and momswap gems meet the diamond-verse gems?

Truth be told, I wasn't thinking about it at first. But, that would be interesting. So, i may set it up for the future. Yes, future. More on that later.

I won't be having them meet before dealing with Dr. Zircon as I've come to call her. Cause frankly, adding the diamonds would just make the final battle too easy for the CG. Gotta have some hardship to make the drama feel impactful, right?

Next question. Who do I see voicing the momswap fusions? For Turquoise, I think Cree Summer would be interesting. For Malachite, Tara Strong doing a voice similar to her angry Raven voice from Teen Titans. Alternate Smoky quartz would have the same voice actress, but with more growl in her voice. Tiger's eye, who is coming soon i swear, could be voiced by Colleen Clinkenbeard, voice of Ezra Scarlet from Fairy Tail. Ammolite could be voiced by Debi Mae West, aka Tsunade from Naruto. Finally, Siderite 2.0 could be voiced by Kari Wahlgreen, voice of Starfire from Injustice 2.

The cross world fusions, like Chrysolite, though, i have no idea.

Now, for the future. I have the next chapter in the works. It's got a Peridot moment in it that's pretty epic, if I do say so myself. I actually find playing you say run from my hero academia while thinking about it to be appropriate. After that, more chapters will follow. I really don't know how long this will end being.

And now we talk post story. I would like write an anthology, following the lives of different AUs. There could be cross overs, but mostly each world will it get its own 2-3 chapters.

Let me know what ya'll think and I'll talk with you guys later. Peace.


	22. Chapter 21

"Ahhhhhh!" Peridot screamed as she was chased by a large horse like corruption.

"Run towards me, Peri! I'll take it out!" Amethyst shouted.

"Why's it only after me?! What did I do to deserve this?!"

Just then, Peridot tripped over a rock and fell face first into the dirt. As she rolled over, she saw the hooves of the corruption looming over her. It looked like it was aiming right for her gem. Peridot froze in terror, however the blow did not come. Just as the corruption was about to strike, Jasper A slammed into the creature's side with a spin dash. The creature flew away from the impact, right towards Amethyst. Amethyst activated her whip's enhanced mode and wrapped it around the monster tightly. She then flung it upwards before slamming it into the ground, causing it to poof. She bubbled the gem, sent it off and then ran over to Peridot.

"Peri?"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Garnet, Pearl, Lapis, I'm sorry! I..." Peridot said, rocking back and forth.

"Peri!" Amethyst shouted.

"Amethyst! I'm sorry! For everything I did before I became a crystal gem! I'm sorry!" Peridot yelled, clearly begging Amethyst for forgiveness.

Amethyst grabbed Peridot's shoulders and shook her.

"Peri, snap out of it!"

Peridot shook her head and started to calm down.

"S-sorry. It's just, when it looked like it was going to hit me, it looked like it was aiming at my gem. I thought I was going to get cracked or worse. I, I saw my whole life flash before my eyes. And I saw all the bad things I've done. I thought maybe all these corruptions were chasing me as punishment for all of that. Like it finally caught up with me. So, I felt like I better start apologizing."

"You did do a lot of bad stuff, but you're making up for it. I mean, you helped build and pilot the drill when we were dealing with the cluster. You've helped save the world, Peri. And, if this Zircon is as dangerous as I've heard, then you're helping to save it again. You have most definitely earned your place with us. And you seem to have learned your lessons with Pearl and Garnet. So, I think all is forgiven there. So, don't sweat it."

"What about Lapis?"

"That you can apologize for. Heck, you probably should do it a couple times. But, a lot of what's up with that gem are her own issues that are seperate from you. So, you can apologize for your part, but it's not gonna smooth everything over."

"Amy's right, Peri. I mean, you can say whatever you want, but there's a lot of issues there that no amount of I'm sorry is going to fix. And, well, truth be told, we all have our part in it. Personally, I think we should all think of something we can do for Lapis once this mission is over." Jasper A said.

"That's not a bad idea, Jasper. But, the mission comes first. So, is the coast clear?" Peridot asked.

"Yeah, I don't see anything else."

"Good. I am so done with getting chased today. Seriously! We haven't even stepped one foot into the base yet. Shoot, we haven't even gotten to the front flippin' door! And I have been attacked by six different corruptions since we stepped off the warp pad. I really do think this is punishment for something."

"Yeah, it is kinda weird. I mean, those corruptions clearly saw me and Jasper, but went after you. I wonder why." Amethyst pondered.

"Maybe another Peridot was a real jerk to them back when they were still normal and they kinda remember it." Jasper A suggested.

"Ugh. I hope not. Cause that's all I need. To suffer from a case of mistaken identity. To get beat up because of some one else being a clod."

"Well, don't you worry, Peri. We got your back." Amethyst said while shooting a thumbs up.

"Thank you. Both of you. Now, lets keep moving."

"By the way, where's that thing Chrysolite made?" Jasper A asked.

"I stored it in my gem. Good thing I did too. I mean, how many times did I get knocked around just now? If I'd been wearing it, it would've been broken for sure. Then how would we complete the mission?"

"Well, we could've always smashed the console and gotten what we needed that way. But, this thing will make it easier. I like easy. And by the way, I noticed you were more worried about the mission than the knock off limb enhancer." Amethyst said.

"Well, of course. As you said, Amethyst, I have earned my place in this team. As such, I am now a sworn guardian of the Earth. When on a mission, my thoughts should only be of completing it for the sake of my adopted home planet."

"There's another sign of you definitely being a crystal gem. You love the Earth."

"I do. I love the freedom it provides for me to just be me and do I want to do. True, all I usually do is watch an old TV show, make meep-morps with Lapis or tend to the farm. But still, those are things I like and want to do. No one is ordering me to do them. And, while I'm doing them, I can see the beauty of this place all around me. All of that is worth fighting for. I won't lie though. I still miss my enhancers. I am a bit jealous of Peridot A for having them. But, even so, every time I notice that my powers have gotten stronger, I admittedly feel less of a pining for my enhancers."

"You know, truth be told, I think my Peri is a little too dependent on her enhancers. I mean, all the stuff they can do is great but...well, don't tell her I told you this but, there was one time during the war where she was poofed and her arm enhancers were taken by the enemy. Now, we got them back, and Bismuth installed that seek and reattach function so this couldn't happen again. But in the mean time, Peri had to make do with her powers and hand held weapons. She was still strong, but you could tell that her reliance on the enhancers had made hand held weapons feel foreign to her. It took her a few fights to get the hang of it again. Now, that was a relatively brief period but I noticed the difference. And now, thousands of years later, I wonder how using those same enhancers all the time has effected her. Would she be like a fish out of water again if she was seperated from them again? I just don't know and it frankly makes me worry about her sometimes. I know she's strong but, well, she is a friend. Heck, practically a sister. So, it's hard not to worry. But, you, Dot, don't have enhancers. So, you have to think of clever ways to use the abilities you've got to do the most damage in battle. You have to think outside the box, something my Peri isn't always able to do. Also, when we had to fight that lapis powered machine at the spire, you showed that you're good with a sword. And, you only had a brief lesson from Peri on how to handle a blade before that. It shows that you have a natural talent for swordsmanship. That's why, I think, with dilligent training, you'll become as strong as my Peri. Maybe even stronger. So, keep up the good work, Dot." Jasper A said.

"Thanks, Jasper. I will! Now, let's go!" Peridot said, beaming from the praise.

The group headed into the structure and Peridot pulled out the enhancer. She turned on the map and began leading the way through the halls. After rounding a few hallways, Jasper A suddenly jumped up and snagged something from off the wall.

"Here, Dot. I happened to notice this sword as we came in. Feels like just the right size and weight for you."

"Oh, ok. Thanks, Jasper. Now I can do some fighting too." Peridot said as she took the weapon from the larger gem.

"Hey, Peri, have you figured out how to use your metal powers for fighting?" Amthyst asked.

"Other than dropping heavy things onto enemies or launching spikes at them, no."

"Well, here's an idea. Why don't we try to see if this place has anymore swords before we leave? You could store a few of them in your gem, just in case, and then dual wield one in each hand. Or, better yet, use your metal powers to psychically strap three of them to each of your hands. Then, when you punch a sucka, you'll be hitting them with three huge claws made of swords!"

"Wow. I, um, literally never thought to try something like that. But, now that you put the picture in my head, it does seem pretty epic."

"See, this is why you should fuse with me and form Flourite. I'd show you all kinds of cool ways to use your powers then. Plus, we might be able to pull off exploding nunchucks! Not sure how, but where there's a will, right?"

"Well, that does sound great, Amethyst. But..."

"I know, I know. You're still not sure about trying fusion. I get that and I'm not gonna make you do anything you don't want to. But, can I ask why your scared to try it? I was gonna ask you while we were alone in my room earlier, but I was too hung up on exploding nunchucks to think about it. So, what's the deal, Pear? I mean, you've said 'forget that trash' to just about every other homeworld rule since you started living here. So, what's up with this one? And be honest. Jasper and I won't tell anyone, so just be honest, okay?"

"You want the truth?"

"Yeah."

"The truth is I'm scared. I mean, I have so few actual abilities. If it weren't for my metal powers, I'd be the weakest gem here. After all, I can't shapeshift, can't produce a weapon, can't super jump and I don't have much in terms of strength or speed. All I have is my metal powers, my durability, light projection, bubbliing and the power to store things in my gem. Not much of that says warrior for planet Earth. So, if I tried fusion and found out that I couldn't do it, I..."

"Peri, I'm sure you can do it. I just know you can. So, stop worrying. Also, did you forget about your inventing skills? You've made attack bots to protect the farm and a big fighting robot in just a few hours. Then there's your big brain, which should really count as a power itself. On top of that, we just found out that you're a natural sword slinger. And I bet there's even more powers and skills buried in you, just waiting to come out. You just gotta be willing to try and stop being afraid. Trust me, in our line of work, there's only two times where failure is not an option. And that's keeping Earth safe and keeping Steven safe."

"And you say you don't feel like a mom to him." Jasper A quipped.

"Could say the same for you, Jasper."

"Point."

"Look, Peri, my point is that since you care so much about the Earth and Steven, I know you'll stop at nothing to keep them safe. So then, it's okay to fall short in other things. I mean, look at me. Am I as big and strong as I'm supposed to be? No. But, I do my best and that's all Garnet, Pearl and Steven ask of me. Everything else is, as the g-squad would say, room for surprises. Meaning that, while you and I might not have certain abilities, we always work to make everything we got as strong as possible. On top of that, we bust out tricks no one else would think of. Like all my shapeshifting. You think your average quartz soldier would do that that much? Probably not."

"So, what you're saying is, that by lacking certain things, we have room for things that could be a whole lot better."

"Exactly. You just gotta figure out what those things are. And don't worry, I'll help ya with it."

"Me too. For as long as I'm still here." Jasper A added.

"Wow, thanks you two. And thanks for all the pep talking, Amethyst. You're pretty good at it."

"I blame Steven for that. Little goof must be rubbing off on me."

"Ha ha, yeah. He does have a tendency to do that. Okay, enough talk. Let's go get that data. Follow me, ladies."


	23. Author's note 2

soooo, what's up everybody? Been a while, huh? I wanted to write this to let you all know what's up.

First off, the second part of Peridot, Amethyst and Jasper A's adventurr us almost done. Should be posted in a day or so. I decided to divide that in half because i realized how long it would've been otherwise.

Now, here's why I have been gone for so long. IRL, I'm a janitor at a hospital. And we have entered the period for when some big shots from the government come to inspect the place. Granted, we may have months to prepare, but they could show up at anytime. They could show up tomorrow if they wanted to. Naturally, this means a lot more work for me. It's draining, pure and simple. Most days, after work, i wanna just go to bed as soon as i get home, cause i'm so tired.

On top of this, i caught a cold and my grandma got bronchitis. So, yeah, illness sucks.

But, i am not giving up. Steven Multiverse will continue and, after seeing the big reveal about Rose Quartz and Pink Diamond, I've already got ideas on a sequel.

So wish me luck, guys and gals. And thanks for sticking with me.


	24. chapter 22

"Hmm." Peridot said as the gems made their way down the hall of the base.

"Sup, Peri? That limb thingy acting up on ya?" Amethyst asked.

"No, no. It's working just fine. And, of course it would. After all, Chrysolite made it and she is the fusion of Pearl and a version of myself. No, i was just thinking that it's quiet in here. Eerily so. I mean, all those corruptions outside and nothing in here?"

Just then, Jasper jumped up and pulled another shield off the wall. This made two shields and two swords she had plucked off the wall for Peridot.

"Well, I don't know what's going on around here. But, I do know that it's best for you to be well armed and well guarded. After all, you're the one that can make sense of all this techy stuff. So, here."

"Thanks, Jasper. I appreciate you looking out for me."

"No prob. Like I said before, Peri's like a sister to me. And since you're a version of her, that makes you family to me too."

"Well then, thank you, sis."

Peridot mentally strapped the sheild to her back, laying it over top of one of the swords already there.

"Gotta say, Pear. You look pretty awesome right now, with all those weapons just hovering there behind you." Amethyst said.

'Thank you, Amethyst. Now, let's continue on, shall we?"

The gems continued on, down several more hallways. Eventually, however, Amethyst couldn't resist the temptation anymore and blurted out the word echo as loud as she could. The gems heard the shout repeat back to them through the empty halls at least six times.

"Okay. This place is emmmmpty." Amethyst said.

"That's what i was saying earlier. It's so quiet that it just feels...wrong." Peridot said.

"Hmm. I don't know about wrong, but i do feel something. Stand here next to me." Jasper said.

The other two did as told.

"Ya feel that?" Jasper asked.

"Yeah, feels like static." Amethyst said.

"Yes, there is a sizeable electric charge in the air." Peridot said.

"But, the question is, where's it coming from? I mean, there's obviously no power on in this place. The light in here's comin' from the windows. So, what's causin' the buzz in the air?" Jasper asked.

"I dunno, but it feels like it's getting stronger as we go this way." Amethyst said.

"Well, unfortunately, we have to go that way. It's the most direct root to the database we need. And i, frankly, would like to get out of here as soon as possible." Peridot said, checking the map on her makeshift enhancer.

"This place giving ya the creeps, Peri?" Amethyst asked.

"Yes, honestly. This whole place feels wrong. Like something happened here. And if we stick around for too long, it'll happen to us as well."

"Well, let's get moving then." Jasper said and took off in a run.

Peridot and Amethyst were hot on her heals and they all felt the charge in the air getting stronger.

"That static's super strong now. Whatever's making it is really close. Get ready, girls!" Jasper yelled.

The three rounded the corner and came into a large room. In the room, however, was a large gem powered machine in the shape of a cresent moon. And at it's core was a peridot.

"Oh no. No no no." Peridot said.

"What is it, Peri?" Amethyst asked.

"I heard, back in era one, some peridot's were designed to have electrical powers. They would use them to spot weld and other such things. But, if they ever failed to meet expectations, they would be poofed and put into machines like this to be used as sentries."

"Now it all makes sense. This sentry must've been one of those peridots. And it's been using its electricity to keep the corruptions out. Like a super powered, glorified cattleprod. No wonder those corruptions kept coming after Dot. They thought she was this thing. And it's all that's keeping them out of what they remember as their home from when they were normal. And this has probably been on a rinse and repeat cycle for thousands of years." Jasper deduced.

"If that's what's up, then no wonder this place feels bad. But, now we know what we gotta do. We 'relocated' all the corruptions already, so it's time to shut down the guard dog. Good thing we got the jump on it." Amethyst said.

Just then, the sentry took notice of the gems and began charging an electrical blast.

"Me and my big mouth. Scatter!"

The gems dove out of the way just before the sentry's blast struck the ground. Amethyst and Jasper produced their weapons and went to work. Amethyst charged her whip with energy and smashed it against the sentry. A large explosion came shortly after, but the dust cleared, Amethyst saw that she'd barely scratched the machine.

"Crud! Why do these things always have to be so tough?"

"Just keep hitting it. We have to open it up at some point." Jasper shouted as she headbutted the sentry at full force.

The blow knocked the machine slightly off tilter, but it retaliated by spinning rapidly. This attack sent Jasper flying into a wall. And before the orange gem could begin to recover, the sentry was preparing another shot.

Acting quickly, Amethyst spin-dashed herself into the side of the machine. As she unfurled, she produced a second whip and turned both of them into their upgraded forms. She flung them around the machine and pulled with all her might.

"Fall, you stupid thing!"

The sentry suddenly stopped, then spun around again. This threw Amethyst into Jasper just as the bigger gem had gotten to her feet. The sentry prepared another blast as the two warriors started to get back to their feet. It fired before they could get up. There was a bright flash and everything went white for the two.

But they felt no pain. And once their vision cleared, they saw why.

"Whoa, Dot..." Jasper muttered.

Peridot had jumped in front of the blast and had blocked it with her shields. She had also mentally strapped the swords to her legs and dug them into the ground. This had created an effective anchor point that prevented her from being pushed back.

"Woohoo, go Peri!" Amethyst shouted.

Just then, Peridot dropped to one knee.

"Ugh. That didn't go as planned."

"Peri!"

"Dot!"

The warrior gems scrambled to their green friend.

"Don't touch me!" Peridot shouted.

"But, Peri..."

"I've still got voltage running through me, Amethyst. The shields couldn't block it all. You could get shocked if you touch me. So stand back while i handle this."

Peridot returned one shield and one sword to her back and held the others in her hands.

"I truly do feel sorry for you, my fellow technician. But, i can't let you hurt them. They are people who are important to me. They're my friends, no, my family. My sisters! And i won't let another peridot hurt them. I've done enough of that myself. Before i became a crystal gem and even now. All my running and hiding does is get my friends hurt, so it's still my fault. But I won't let that happen anymore. I started with Lazuli, and i'll continue here. I, Peridot facet 2F5L cut 5XG, do swear that if it's in my power, i will do all i can to protect what i love! My family!" Peridot shouted before charging the machine.

The green gem ducked and doged all she could as the machine tried to blast her. She threw her sword at the machine and used her metal powers to guide it through the air as it slashed at the machine.

"Just need to pry open one panel..." Peridot said as she used her powers to bring out the other weapons.

She whirled them around the machine, slashing and pounding away at it.

"Come on, come on!" Peridot shouted as she ducked another blast.

Just then, another shot from the machine started to fire. However, Jasper and Amethyst spin dashed into the side of the machine, causing it's attack to blast a corner of the room.

"What? Why did you two..." Peridot started.

"Peri, it's real sweet of you to wanna protect us and we sat back to give you a chance to shine. But, then we remembered something." Amethyst said.

"We remembered that the feeling was mutual. And that protecting each other is what family does. So the three of us all have to watch each other's backs. Now, let's do what we should've done in the first place, make a plan. So, Dot, since you're the smartest, tell us what to do." Jasper said.

"Hmm, okay. First, we need to focus on one particular panel. Any one will do."

"How about at the top? It'll wicked hard to get blasted from up there." Amethsyt said.

"Good point, Amethyst. And since i have the highest durability, i should climb it. You know, just in case it can shock us at close range."

"Climb nothing, I'll throw you up there." Jasper said.

"Even better. Meanwhile, you two keep it distracted."

"It'll spin around all over the place if we do it like this. We need to keep it's attention on one spot. So, Amy, you thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?" Jasper asked.

"Mash it up?" Amethyst replied with a wide grin.

"Oh yeah."

"I assume you two mean fusion. Good idea. Now, let's do this." Peridot said.

Amethyst and Jasper went through a quick dance before Amethyst back-flipped into the larger gem. The two turned into a mass of light which shot up into the air in a spiraling arc. It exploded into a bright flash of orange and purple. The fusion dropped down out of this display of pyrotechnics. She posessed four eyes and split down the middle color wise. One side was orange, the other purple. She wore a long duster like coat, with a buttoned up vest underneath, khaki esque pants and bulky boots.

"Oh yeah! Say hello to Ametrine!" The fusion shouted proudly.

"Hello, Ametrine. Now, let's smash this thing!" Peridot said.

"Got it. First things first. One Peri missile, comin' up!" Ametrine said as she picked up Peridot.

"And fire!" She shouted as she threw the green gem up onto the top the machine.

Peridot got to work quickly, bracing herself with the shields while shoving the swords into the junction between two large panels. She began to pry it open as Ametrine formed her weapon, which was a flail with a long chain and huge, spiked version of Jasper's helmet as the ball. After this, Ametrine proceeded to flip and roll all around, keeping the sentry's attention on her. She struck the machine as hard as she could, every time she could. She even succeeded in denting several panels near the bottom.

"Nnnnnn-agh!" Peridot grunted as she finally pried the panels open.

She looked down to see that the inside of the machine was open enough inside to allow her to fit inside. So, she jumped into the machine and began to shred everything she could reach. The machine contorted violently to the left and right as various systems went haywire due to Peridot's tampering. Finally, Peridot smashed her way through the panels Ametrine had damaged earlier and hit the floor with a roll.

"Now, Ametrine! Finish it!"

"You got it!"

Ametrine used her spin dash to launch herself high into the air and came down on the machine with a punishing overhead smash with her flail. The impact finally knocked the malfunctioning machine to the floor, where Ametrine removed the gem powering it.

"Here, Peri. Feels like you should do the honors." Ametrine said as she held the gem out to Peridot.

Peridot walked up and bubbled the gem.

"Rest easy now." Peridot said solemnly as she sent the bubble off and Ametrine unfused.

"You okay, Dot?" Jasper asked.

"Yes, thank you. Now, let's finish this mission." Peridot said as she pulled the makeshift enhancer out of her gem.

"Huh. Didn't even notice that was put away till just now." Amethyst said.

"There was too much chaos to keep track. But, it's over now. My fellow peridot can finally be at ease, along with all those corruptions. I feel good with that knowledge. Now, let's go get the knowledge we came for."

The trio quickly aquired their target and headed home. They found themselves to be the first to arrive home. The Lapis', Ruby and Sapphire arrived shortly after. But, before they could exchange pleasantries, Pearl and the gang arrived.

" 'Gasp' Ruby, Sapphire! What happened?" Pearl shouted when she saw the red and blue gems.

"A long story. We'll tell you later. But first, who is that?" Ruby asked, pointing at Siderite.

"Oooooh! I know who it is! Sidy!" Lapis A shouted.

She flew over to and picked Siderite up. She spun her around, giggling in sheer joy.

"Lapis, you're embarassing me." Siderite groaned.

"I don't care! This is huge! Oh, I'm so happy to see you, I could crack! Alright! Story, now! And i want all the details."

Siderite glanced over Lapis A's shoulder and saw Pearl quietly excuse herself to go outside. Siderite softly sighed and unfused.

"Hey, what gives?" Jasper A asked.

"You all didn't notice, but Pearl left. She's been dealing with a flood of memories and emotions ever since she saw me fuse with Steven." Peridot A explained.

"Oh. And i guess my freakout just now made matters worse. Sorry." Lapis A said.

"Don't worry. I'll go talk to her. I can understand her mentality best after all."

"Right. You do that. We'll start the data mining and make lunch for the kids in the meantime. Stevonnie, unfuse and wash up."

Peridot A walked outside to see Pearl siting idly on the beach. She came down and sat next to her.

"So... Do you want to talk about it?" Peridot A asked.

"What can i even say? My head feels like a jumbled mess right now. Oh, what would Rose say if she saw me like this?"

"Probably something along the lines of 'if you really love him, and i know you do, just go ahead and fuse with him. I wouldn't mind a bit.'."

"Heh, you sound so sure now. You were just like me until not too long ago. I guess 'taking the plunge', as Amethyst would say, changes everything."

"Yes, i guess it does. But, Pearl, what Siderite said was true. The fusion is way easier than you think to maintain. All i had to do was make sure to lock away certain information Steven isn't ready to know yet."

"What kind of information?"

"Things Rose asked me not to share with anyone. Things i believe you know as well. And there's the loophole in her request. I don't think she would mind me sharing with someone who already knows."

"But what kind of things do you know, exactly?" Pearl asked, increasingly curious.

"Things like how Rose wasn't just our leader. She was also our..." Peridot A paused before folding her arms into the typical diamond salute.

Pearl gasped and covered her mouth.

"So, you see, you and i are tremendously alike. So, if i tell you it'll be okay, believe me. Okay?"

"Okay. I'll try to think more positively about all of this."

"That's all i ask."

"So, now that i know what you know, tell me. How did you really meet Rose?"

"I could tell you, but i think it would work better to show you. So, Pearl, come on in." Peridot A said as her gem began to glow.

\\\\\\\\\\\\\ Author note/

Finally, done. Sorry it took so long, everyone. Directly after i said i'd post this soon, FF's app somehow erased my work up until the first few lines. And this happened three times. Then there was issues with my internet connection, power outages, family commitments. A whole host of things. But, it's finally quiet again, and i wanted to get this out before the 4th was over. So, yeah, thanks for being patient, guys and gals.

Real quick final note. How would all of you like some flashback chapters? To actually 'see' the momswap gems' stories rather than just 'hear' them? Tell me what you think.


	25. chapter 23

It took a moment for Pearl's eyes to adjust. Once they had, she looked around. She was in a rocky, quarry like place that felt desolate.

"Where am I? Peridot said she would show me how she met Rose and then pulled me into her mind. But, where is this?"

Pearl walked around for a moment or two before she came across a very familiar sight.

"Oh! This is an emergence hole. So, this must be a kindergarden...wait. Peridot said that she met Rose on Crya five, in the kindergarden where she was made. So, this must be Crya. Such a dreary place." Pearl said as she looked around.

Then Pearl heard voices around the nearby bend. She ran over and peered around the corner. There she saw two peridots calibrating some injectors.

"This is aggravating. This must be the fourth time this cycle these injectors have broken down." One Peridot, with her gem on her shoulder, said.

"Tell me about it, 5XD. Hey, where's the runt with our tools?" said the other peridot with her gem on her hip.

"5XD! 5XE!" came a voice from the distance.

"Oh, here she comes. 'Snicker' it's funny to watch her run." 5XD said

"Yeah, it is. Hey, 5XG." 5XE said.

"5XG? So, that's Peridot A before she met Rose." Pearl thought. "She looks just like our Peridot right now."

"Forgive my tardiness. There was a line at the tool depot." The past Peridot A said.

"A line? There's never been a line before." 5XE said.

"It's been happening more and more lately. The machinary keeps breaking down, because we're trying to get gems out of a place that just can't really do it any more. Let's face it, gems. Old Crya is on her last legs. I'm sure we'll be pulling out of here soon." 5XD explained.

"Yeah, probably. This colony's been good to us though. Got quite a few gems out of it. Oh, well, ever forward. Say, did you hear about what happened at that tournament at the Vector colony?" 5XE asked.

"No, what?"

"I heard that a gem from the Earth colony showed up and won it."

"A gem from a brand new colony won the Vector tournament?" Past Peridot A asked.

"Yup. Supposedly, she was hand chosen by Pink Diamond herself to be the representative for her first colony. Her name was Rose Quartz."

"Wow, they are definitely growing them tough over on Earth. Pink Diamond is going to have an amazing army." 5XD said.

"Sure seems that way. They've already made a living legend. Hmm, I wonder if we'll get sent there next."

"Hey, you gems." Shouted a voice.

Around the bend came another peridot with her gem on her left forearm.

"Oh, hey, 5XB. Is something happening?" 5XD asked.

"Yes. The supervisors are calling a meeting. They want all of us there. Come on!"

"You two go on ahead. I'll secure everything here first." Past Peridot A said.

"Okay. Thanks a lot, 5XG." 5XD said.

"You're a star, 5XG." 5XE said as they headed off.

"Yeah, I'm a star alright. The star of their jokes. Just because I'm small, that doesn't mean my sound recievers don't function. And they aren't as quiet as they think." Past Peridot A said, with her eyes lowering sadly.

"Oh, Peridot. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry you had to be treated like that." Pearl said.

"Well, thank you, Pearl. But, this isn't why you're here is it? " Past Peridot A said and turned to Pearl.

"Peridot?! You, you can see me?!"

"Well, of course. This is my mind after all. I can do aything here. That's why everything is in third person as well."

"Right, of course. So, if this isn't why I'm here, then why did you show me this?"

"To give you more of my backstory. I've already deduced yours through a combination of my own experiences and my interactions with my world's Pearl. Now, let's move on, shall we?"

Suddenly, the enviroment blurred and seemed to speed by. Past Peridot also disappeared. After a few moments, everything settled down and Pearl found herself standing in a makeshift camp. Bits and pieces of gem tech were scattered about. Pearl was just starting to wonder what all this was when she heard Peridot cry out. Pearl instinctively ran to the source of the noise. She recoiled when she saw the scene before her.

Past Peridot was desperately holding onto the hand of the half-formed gem she had mentioned before. Pearl knew what this was.

"Oh stars." Pearl muttered quietly as she covered her mouth and tears began to well up in her eyes.

"No! No, please! Don't go! I need you! You're all I have! Please!" Past Peridot said through her tears.

But her begging was all for naught. The half-formed gem's head rolled to one side and her body twitched slightly. Then her body began to break down, dissipating into energy and phasing into the ether.

Past Peridot cried out to the heavens while Pearl tried to stifle her crying.

"Oh stars. Peridot, why did you show me this?" Pearl asked, knowing she could be heard.

"To show you the dark place I was in before she arrived. Speaking of which..."

Peridot trailed off and looked upwards. Pearl followed her gaze and saw a gem ship heading to the surface. Past Peridot took off running towards it, so Pearl followed in hot pursuit. They ran to where the ship landed and the doors opened. And out stepped a gem Pearl knew all too well.

"Rose..." Pearl muttered.

Rose Quartz, dressed in typical quartz warrior garb, surveyed the landscape for a moment before noticing Past Peridot A.

"Oh, hello there. I wasn't expecting other gems to be here."

"Um, hello. Who are you?" Past Peridot asked.

"I'm Rose Quartz. Nice to meet you."

"Wow, Rose Quartz. I've heard about you. I'm Peridot facet..."

"Just Peridot is enough. All that facet and cut stuff is too much to remember. Makes gems sound more like drones than living, thinking people too."

"But how do you differentiate between gems then?"

"I give them nicknames." Rose said brightly.

"Nick names?"

"Oh, sorry. Nearly forgot that you're not from Earth like me."

"Oh, yes, i'd heard that you're from there."

"Yeah. And nicknames is how we differentiate each other there. Oh, and a nickname is either a shortened version of a gem's name or some word that describes a gem's character. Hmm, for you... I think i'll just call you Peri."

"Um, okay. So, what is an Earth gem, let alone a tournament champion, doing here?"

"Well, i was just on my way back to Earth after competing in the vector tournament and i saw this place. Hadn't seen another gem colony for a little while, so i thought i'd check it out."

"I see. Must be nice to be a champion. I haven't had nearly that exciting of a life."

"I've got time before i need to head home. Why don't you tell me about yourself, Peri?"

Past Peridot shrugged and proceeded to tell Rose her story.

"So, they basically left you behind because you were small..."

"Yes. I've tried to keep busy to distract myself, but nothing works."

Rose scooped Peridot up into a tight hug.

"You poor thing. I'm sorry you've had it so rough."

"What are you doing?"

"This is called a hug. It's how we convey comfort to each other on Earth."

"I see. Well, it certainly feels nice. Earth sounds like a wonderful place. I wish i could see it."

"Then you should hop on my ship and come with me to Earth."

"But, I can't abandon my post."

"But, Peridot, your post has abandoned you. And so have your supervisors. But, unlike them, i'll never abandon you. You can stay with me forever if you want. We'll be the best of friends." Rose said, extending a hand to Peridot.

Peridot tentatively took her hand and was led to the ship. Pearl hurried to keep up with the two. The ship took off and Pearl was treated to a rapid montage of Peridot A's memories of the journey. It continued on Earth, Pearl noting how happy Peridot looked to be with Rose. Eventually, however, they came to the gamma kindergarden. The discussion Peridot mentioned before happened and Past Peridot bowed to Rose.

"Rose, I'm just a small Peridot. I'm not capable of much. But, if you'll have me, then i will stay by your side as faithfully as a pearl stays by a diamond."

"Still no offense taken." Pearl muttered with a smile.

"Then welcome aboard, Peri." Rose said, helping Peridot to her feet.

"Now, Rose, i have no doubts that we'll be able to find plenty of recruits with your charisma. But, we'll need information. How do you plan to get that?"

"Well, i have an inside track on that."

"What do you mean?"

"Um, well..." Rose fidgeted for a moment.

"Rose?" Peridot asked.

"Um, well, i guess it'd be easier to show you. Remember how you said you'd stay by my side?"

"Like a Pearl to a diamond. And i mean it. Why do you ask?"

"Well, how do you feel about serving Pink Diamond directly?"

"What?"

Rose sighed and then began shapeshifting. She reverted to her true form.

"Y-you're, you're..." Past Peridot stammered.

"Pink Diamond, yes. Rose Quartz is just a shapeshifted disguise I use."

Past Peridot immeadiately dropped to her knees.

"Oh please, your clarity. Forgive my impudence. I meant no disrespect to you or your lovely colony." Past Peridot said with her arms desperately showing the diamond salute.

"Peri, please. Stand up." Pink said, putting a comforting hand on Peridot's head.

Pink pulled Peridot to her feet.

"There. Better. Now, listen, Peri. Everything i said to you as Rose i meant. I want only a few kindergardens to produce enough gems to call this a colony. I don't want this beautiful place to end up like Crya. But, the other diamonds won't listen to my pleas. So, we'll use Rose Quartz and her fearsome Peridot general to create a ruse that'll let us convince the others to give up."

"Um, okay, my diamond. But, like i said, we will still need information. And i don't believe i will be allowed into diamond meetings."

"You will be, as my Pearl replacement. See, i don't have a Pearl yet. So, maybe we can convince the others to give you a shot."

"Um, if you think it'll work, my diamond."

"It has to, Peri. We need it to. Earth needs it to. Now, let's do this." Pink said, producing a communication device and contacting Yellow and Blue Diamonds.

" 'Sigh' what is it now, Pink?" Yellow asked.

"Listen, you two. I went to the vector tournament to make sure my Rose Quartz did well. She did, by the way."

"Yes, we heard. She won. Congratulations, Pink." Blue said.

"Thank you. Now see, on my way back to Earth, i saw one of Yellow's old colonies. Crya five, I believe. I wanted to see how Yellow did business. Thought i could learn something."

"Nice to see you're trying, Pink." Yellow said with a prideful smirk.

"I picked up a few tidbits and i also found this Peridot." Pink said, gesturing to Past Peridot. "She was left there, all alone, trying her hardest to make more gems with what little Crya had. I pitied her, so i brought her home with me. I know how it feels to be so small."

"Of course you'd play that card. 'sigh' Let's just cut to the chase. What do you want, Pink?" Yellow asked.

"Well, since i don't have a pearl and this peridot doesn't have a colony to work on, i want her to take the place of my pearl. At least until my pearl is ready."

"What?! Preposterous! Stop being so silly, Pink."

"I'm serious. I've talked with her. I can say with confidence that she is the most intelligent peridot i have ever seen. She may very well be one of the smartest gems i've ever met. So, she could easily fill my pearl's role as my assistant."

"Even if she is as smart as you say, it still flies in the face of proper procedure to do this." Blue said.

"Nobody would have to know but us. I stay here most of the time and the few times i leave, i'm with one or both of you."

"Well, that is true. And White did tell us to do whatever necessary to help you while she tried to find the ideal place to make your pearl."

"Blue, you're not really condoning this, are you?" Yellow asked.

"I'm just stating facts, Yellow. And the facts do add up, now that i think about it."

"Typical. You change your tune so freely when Pink is involved, Blue." Yellow said irratably.

"Somebody sounds jealous." Pink joked.

"Be quiet, Pink. 'Sigh' fine. I'm clearly outvoted, so i relinquish command of the peridot to you, Pink. But, only on two conditions."

"Um, what are they?" Pink asked nervously.

"One, nobody ever knows about this but us."

"Okay. Can do."

"And two, since she will be in attendance at court meetings, that Peridot's current form will not suffice and shapeshifting would just be insulting. So, you must poof her and have her reform into a more suitable state."

Pink was at a loss for words for the moment. She clearly didn't want to hurt Peridot.

"My diamond..." Past Peridot spoke to get Pink's attention. "I wish to serve you to the best of my abilities. So, if a change of form is required, I'll take some momentary pain."

"Peridot, are you sure?" Pink asked, still very distressed.

Past Peridot nodded.

"Okay. I'll make it quick."

Pink Diamond pulled a destablizer from her gem. The weapon crackled with it's lightning like energy.

"I know you'll look amazing, Peri. I can't wait to see what you come up with." Pink said quietly before jabbing Past Peridot with the weapon.

Past Peridot poofed and all went blank inside Peridot's mind. A few seconds later, hazy images started to form and then sounds came.

"Oh, here she comes." Said Pink in a muffled tone.

Things became clearer and Past Peridot reappeared in her new form. The yellow diamond on her chest had turned pink and grown larger. She now had a light green short sleeved top with a short dark green cape attached. She also had a dark green skirt, with light green lacy frills at the bottom. A pair of knee high black boots finished the look.

"Peri! Welcome back! You look great!" Pink shouted as soon as Peridot had fully come around.

"Thank you, my diamond. I hope this will suffice for court." Peridot said, blushing from the praise.

"It's perfect. Not even Yellow could complain about that."

"Um, speaking of her, are we still on call with the other diamonds?"

"No. They said they'd check out your new form the next time we were in touch. So they disconnected shortly after you poofed. Shows how much they really care about us if you ask me. Anyway, you've been out for a whole day. I'm glad to have my friend back. And let's establish that right now. To the others, you are my 'pearl', my assistant. But, to me, you're Peri, my friend. Never forget that or think otherwise, ok?"

"Noted and etched in proverbial stone."

"Good. Now, one last thing. If we're going to do this, you need another form for missions with Rose Quartz. So, since i really don't want to poof you again, let me ask this. Peri, can you shape shift?"

"Yes, I can."

"She can? That's one power our Peridot doesn't have. So, our Peridot actually can't get everything she has. Better keep that to myself." Pearl thought.

"Okay, good. Try to whip up a new look with your shap shifting."

"Okay, here goes."

Past Peridot glowed and her clothes changed. She now sported a dark green unitard that reached to just above her knees, with a yellow star on the chest. She also had black, detached sleeves with green bands wrapped around the wrists. Her boots shortended to mid calf to complete the look.

"How's this?"

"Perfect!" Pink said with huge stars in her eyes.

"I'm glad you like it, my Rose."

"My Rose, mmm, i like that. Ok, Peri. Let's get to work."

"Right behind you."

The two began to walk away and everything blurred again. Past Peridot, in her original crystal gem form, appeared with her head tilted down.

"That's how I met Rose. Everything down to the letter. Now, i'm sure there's one more question you're wondering. How did we 'shatter' Pink Diamond? Let me show you. We did it like this."

Past Peridot shape shifted again and turned into a copy of Rose with a closed fist. In the dark 'lighting' the current state of Peridot's mind provided, Pearl could barely tell that this form still had peridot's colors.

"It was dark and storming out when we did it. No one could tell in the poor lighting that my Rose form had the wrong colors." Rose Peridot said, opening her hand to reveal Pink's gem inside.

"You faked it just like we did." Pearl said.

"Yes. And i'll keep your secrets as long as you keep mine."

"Okay. And I'll listen to you more intently now. After all, you basically are me in your world."

"Good. Now, let's get back to the others."

A bright flash of light brought Pearl back to the real world.

"Thank you for confiding all that in me." Pearl said.

"You can pay me back by sorting out how you really feel about Steven and fusion." Peridot A said, leaning in for a hug.

"I'll try. And thank you again. For being my friend." Pearl said, returning the gesture

"Not a problem."

The two began to glow as they hugged. Suddenly, Chrysolite popped back into existence.

"Oh, whoops. Looks like we synced and didn't even realize it." Chrysolite said with a laugh.

"Hey, you two!" Chrysolite heard.

The fusion turned to see Lapis A flying over from the house.

" Whoa! That must've been some heart to heart talk." Lapis A said, noting Chrysolite's prescence.

"It was. And Pearl's feeling chipper again."

"Good. So, you staying like that for a while?"

"Yes. This is feeling pretty good, so I think we will stay fused for the time being."

"Okay. I was just wondering, cause we didn't get to spend a whole lot of time with you last time. I think it'd be nice to get to know all our cross world fusions better."

"An interesting endeavor. I think we should do that as well. But, the mission must come first. Let's go see what all our data mining has turned up."


End file.
